


For Every Rose

by Hpsane



Category: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Fairy Tale Retellings, Modern Era, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 11:33:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 52
Words: 83,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6373120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hpsane/pseuds/Hpsane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Think you know the story of beauty and the beast? Well, you don't know the half of it. Briar Gantz was the girlfriend of a rock star until her boyfriend was kidnapped by a mysterious person living in the sewers beneath her feet....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

_In the Tales of old, the Beast was a spoiled Prince. He was raised as such, and was a terrible and rotten child. Foul and pampered, he was cursed because of his vanity. Miserable and distraught over his new appearance, he hid himself in shame._  
Long after, sometimes years, sometimes centuries, (depending on which story you read) along came a beauty to tame the heart of the wild beast. Love soon blossomed, battles were fought, tears were shed, and thoughts of love were shared.  
In the end, true loves first kiss tears the spell from the flesh of the beast. Transformed once more into the Prince, (now much older and much wiser) he is thrust into the loving arms of the awaiting Beauty.  
At Least....that's the way they wrote it.  
In truth, there was no happily ever after. The Beast betrayed the Beauty, (he was just that....a Beast.) In turn, it twas Beauty that killed the Beast. She left him to fall to the hands of an awaiting mob. His head was placed on a pike to declare to the world...." **THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LOVE A BEAST!!** "  
At least.....that's the way I heard it.  
Every generation has its Beauties and its Beast's. They all have their fairy tales and their realities. A tale as old as time is redone, the stage reset with every new performance. The actors may change, as do names, props and languages. Yet, not ALL endings are happily ever after, and not every Beast gets its Rose.  
At least.....that's the way I see it. 

_~ Dais De Beaumont._


	2. Feeling Important

There is no better feeling than that of importance. It is a feeling most search their entire life's for, even if it is for a single glittering moment then fades like a distant light. Many have killed and maimed, enslaved and plotted to grasp it. Yet, such glory can be found in many small and dirty places. A secret only those who have risen from the ash of such places as Harlem and Compton know, and one that many a rich man would kill to possess. It is a glorious feeling.  
Briar Gantz knew that feeling, and boy did she know it well. At the virile age of nineteen, she had accomplished what most girls of her generation could only dream of. Yet it was such a petty dream, one of glamor and fame. She had a good enough job waiting tables at a small coffee shop, and a small apartment. This was not the part of the dream, for she imagined not a lot of girls dreamed of living in a building where if your neighbors decided to enjoy some “alone time” parts of your ceiling or wall would pour to the floor. Where children cried and screamed at each other for toys and games they could not afford, and where many times at night an argument between a husband and wife would need the assistance of the cops. No, where she had snagged the dream was in who she shared that tiny apartment with.  
Adam Leve was a hot and talented musician. A rock star to be exact. Well, technically not yet, but he kept assuring her that soon his name would be up in lights. When she had been sixteen, the smooth talking boy had swept Briar off her feet. Falling head over heels for him she had followed him about like a lost puppy. Yet, after an accident claimed the lives of both her mother and brother and sent her elderly father into a coma in which he died months later, Briar left her school and took off with Adam to the big city. With some money from an older brother who owned a strip club in the same city Adam had gotten the apartment and started a new band. Working on a part time basis at some local garage he earned just enough to pay some bills and feed his need to be a rock star. That left rent and everything else up to Briar. For almost four years they had lived this way. The reigning king and queen of grunge and poverty.  
That was how; after sixteen hours of waiting tables at the Round Clock coffee house, she was sitting in the stingy and threadbare seats of the Enchantress. The club was not much to look at, windows covered in posters from bands no one had ever heard of or ever would. Tiled floors were stained and faded as thousands of shoes tracked god only knew what into the small room. Banging her head slightly to the notes tossed about the room, she sat with her back to the stage where Adam and his band Seventh Terrace were bouncing around the wooden platform. Bellowing their newest single into the microphone, they tried desperately to entertain the few people paying them any mind in the club.  
_“Death is a woman in six inch heels._  
Gonna get the job done no matter who she kills.  
Black lace and pale white skin.  
Kiss of sex and red hot sin.”   
Mouth as close as possible to the microphone, he grabbed the stand as his drummer Dante smashed his way through yet another pair of drums. Next to him Grunge the guitarist tore his fingers over the strings of the double necked base painted with Satan on the side. Dante slammed down on the symbols once more, sending a loud earsplitting ring through the speaker next to him. The small and crowded club did nothing to maintain the reverberation of the song, the acoustics lacking in a place made from cheap plywood and concrete. This was a fact Adam often lamented.  
She sat at one of the tables, the green tabletop was scratched and dented from years of heavy abuse and mistreatment. Boredom taking her attention from her boyfriend making a complete jack ass of himself on stage, she absently traced her fingers over a set of names carved into the table. Knees tucked slightly under the chair to avoid any gum or....other more nasty things people had set under the table, Briar kept tracing the long forgotten names on the once shiny tabletop. She sighed.   
A queen of this type of scene since she was old enough to drive; Briar had grown, as most nobles before her, bored of her power. She had long ago lost all the love and feeling for the glitter and smoke. Where she had once seen fame and glitter, she now saw desperation and heavy drugs. What once was the smell of fresh opportunity, hope, and money had now morphed into the tart and distinct odor of cigarettes, cheap swill they hawked as booze, and what she hoped was stale urine. Around her sat her few friends. Most of them had boyfriends, or girlfriends, in a band. As such they had formed their own little “Band Wives Club”. It seemed appropriate really. Together they chatted loudly over the club noise about their days and complained about their significant others. A few of them drank and would continue to drink late into the night. Briar knew that feeling. If she had to be dragged to another never-ending after party she would need a stiff drink herself. Maybe two.  
When the subject of Adam once more breached the smoke filled air of the club, she excused herself and walked into the bathroom. At least what the small boon dock club called a bathroom. Only four stalls sat in the cockroach infested room, the last one in the row having no door. Someone had probably long ago kicked it off. Stalls that may have once been the cool gray steel were now multicolored homage’s to any jerk off with a sharpie, an opinion and a lot of free time in the can.  
Splashing her hands under the tap for a second, Briar tried to think of something new to say to those girls at her table It was always the same old thing every time they met. Having wet her hands, she now dried them on her black skirt. Checking her makeup and clothes, she once more began to pick over her looks.  
She was not thin, by any means was she not thin. God had given her a pair of hips and a set of moderate boobs, and they were something she never wanted to loose. Sometimes she thought she could spare to lose a bit of the roundness that stuck out from her stomach, but on nights like these she could not care less about the heaviness of her abdomen. Bright green eyes stared back at her from the glittering eyeliner she had smeared around them. Blowing a stray hair from her face, Briar ran one hand through her hair. Not a single dark red hair was out of place, or at least out of the wild mane it was in on purpose. She had once been blond, a color her hair had not seen in years. Now it was a punk like red, mixed with an almost black color to pop out her green eyes. She hated it now and wanted to strip the hard to take care of color from her hair for good. “Red!” she huffed. “I do not know how natural red-heads do it. This stuff is way hard to manage.” Her lips smeared with just enough lip gloss to make sure they shined, she looked on top of the world.  
“Well, as much as a cockroach like me can be on top of it.” she muttered to herself as she pulled away from the mirror. She returned to the pounding room, and slid back into her chair. Silence met her, and from the look on the others faces, they were still waiting for an answer to the question they had posed to her before she left. Having left the question hanging, Briar had peaked their interest, and she was not going to be able to leave until she answered them.  
“How's life wit cha boi toy?” a blond with curly hair named Amy giggled. Her girlfriend was the lead guitarist in the band following Adam's. Cheyne Stokes were a pretty decent heavy metal band and Briar hoped one day that a label would pick them up. They all really deserved some recognition for their talents.  
“Fine.” she lied, putting on her best smile to hide the fact that things were never fine with Adam. The moody and pre-madonna singer spent more time partying with the band and trying to make it big than he did at their home. So many nights he got in a seven am, only to pass out on the couch. As she had the only full time job between the two of them Briar was often working or alone most days, and thrust into one sleepless party after another most nights.  
Briar went to open her mouth, only to be saved by the voice of the man in question coming from the stage. Taking Adam's enthusiastic “Goodnight!” as her chance to escape, she waved off the question.  
“That's my cue girls. You ladies have a good night.” with a wink she got up, finally glad to be out of the chair that constantly hurt her ass. The cushions had seen so many rears by the time hers had found it there was almost nothing between her and the wood of the chair's frame. Heels clicking, she strode to the makeshift stage where Grunge was putting his beloved base away. Carefully he placed the guitar into is velvet case, taking care not to mess up the finish he so lovingly coated it in. Without even looking at her, he pointed towards the small dark hall next to the stage. He did not speak a word to her and this came as no surprise. Long ago she learned that most of Adam's friends did not care for her, and at best they just ignored or avoided her. Grunge was no exception. Thanking him anyways, Briar moved down the hall towards the pit where the bands that played the club could prepare and cool off.   
Coming toward her from the end of the wall was a group of rowdy girls. Briar smiled and warmly greeted them as they came near. “Have a great set guys!”   
All of them smiled and thanked her as they shoved each other playfully through the back door of the stage.   
Arriving at the pit, she made her way through the crudely made door. It was only a cheap curtain stapled to a cracked and splintered door frame. Once on the other side, something grabbed her from the darkness.  
**********************  
Adam reached out from the darkness of a corner and wrapped his arms about her waist. Hauling her up slightly, he spun her about. Laughing like some sort of child he spun her about a bit more before setting her down. Before a word could come from her mouth, her started kissing her. For a moment she let the passion flow; wrapping her arms about his neck. Laughing Adam hauled her up once more. Again he spun her about a bit, Briar letting out a playful yelp.  
“What a great show! Best one yet! Ready to party?” Adam grinned kissing her again. She rolled her eyes at the baby of a man before her. Adjusting the top he had messed up, she smiled at him. With short brown hair in spikes, the tips died green, and more piercings than she could count, he looked every part the part of the rocker he played.  
“I thought we could stay in tonight babe.” Briar smiled wearily. She desperately needed some sleep. Tomorrow she had a morning shift and god knows the old bastard that ran the place would give her overtime hours but no pay for them. She was in no mood to party. Suddenly Briar heard his voice grow hard.  
“I worked hard for this Bri. We are going to this bash, cuz there are going to be agents there. I need to get my face out there! What the fuck don't you understand about that? After a gig like that, I have to go to the after party! Now are you going to join me and act like a proper girlfriend, or do I have to go by myself and be embarrassed when someone asks where the fuck you are?” he hissed. The cute boy demeanor dropping, and the angry asshole that was beginning to show more and more taking its place. Briar nodded, hating when he got into one of these moods. She had learned it was just best to let him have his way when he threw one of these hissy fits. Nothing she said would be even remotely considered when he was like this.   
Adam smiled, once again slipping into the role of a charming man. “Good. Let's get going.”

*****************************  
Briar loved parties. The thumping music, beer and moving bodies created a melody which spoke to her inner most being. That and the dancing. Briar loved to dance, and she was pretty good at it. Her heart beat loudly in her ears and she could not help but lose herself in the movements around her. All of it made her feel so alive. Somewhere amongst the crowd, she had lost Adam. That might be one of the reasons she was feeling so good. Not that she really cared anymore, the man was a possessive jerk. She knew she should break it off with him, god how she knew that. Over the years she had grown tired of the selfish rockers attitude and the relationship had grown stale. Not that she would probably ever break it off with him. It was complicated, real complicated. He was the only thing she really knew anymore. Hips rocking and swaying to the music, she forgot everything. Nothing moved her but the song. No worries. No problems. No Adam. Briar even forgot how tired she was. Nirvana was hers.  
That was, until a sight from the corner of her eye pushed her from the mountain that she had set herself on as her body moved. As she turned, hips gyrating to the techno beat that poured from the DJ's oversized speakers, she saw something that made her stop dead in her tracks. There, leaning his thin frame against the wall stood Adam. Attached to him at the hip and the mouth was a strange black haired woman. She was furiously kissing him, running her lips down his neck; nibbling and whispering in his ear. A smirk lay across Adam's face, mouthing words Briar could only theorize were sweet and sexy.   
It was the look on his face that got her. That same look had gotten to her so many years ago, the same one he had the day she hopped on his bike and left her old life behind. She froze, her heart stopping dead in its tracks. Her heart broke and like a long forgotten glass figurine; shattered on the dance floor.   
How dare he do this to her! Everyone, most everyone, at this party knew she was his girlfriend! Yet here he was, feeling up some random woman when she was in the same room! That was it! Briar had had enough! She was done with this child in a man's body. After all those years he had not done anything for her and she had given up so much to be by his side. Well, that was over. It ended now. Hands curling into fists she tore through the crowd, straight for the DJ and Adam. The crowd parted for her with only a few dancers straying into her path. They soon moved. The music still blared, a new beat pumping out faster than the last making everyone in the room's blood hotter. Reaching the DJ booth, she pushed the large speaker nestled near the spin table. It wobbled a moment, then fell forward nearly hitting the couple in the corner.   
Adam looked up, his eyes growing wide as he saw the large black box soaring downwards towards him. Panicking for a moment, he threw himself from the girl he had spent most of the night feeling up. With a crash it slammed into the floor, shattering with an ear splitting screech of burst mechanics right at the feet of Adam's new conquest. She screamed, throwing her hands to her face as Adam picked himself from the floor; looking up just in time to see Briar walking out the door.   
His face contorted into a snarl, and he quickly noticed the stares of the everyone in the party. Now that there was no music playing to distract them the crowd had taken to watching the little drama playing out before them. Growling in disgust and embarrassment, he took after her. The door slammed twice before shutting as he pushed his way outside. Shrugging as the drama left their sight, the party goers began to crowd the DJ, hoping for him to once more spin some tune to make them forget themselves.   
Gravel crunched under his boots as he tore across the driveway towards Briar. She was sitting in their small beat up car, pulling out her keys to leave when Adam reached their parking spot.  
“What the fuck is your problem?” he yelled, slamming his hands on the car hood.   
“What is my problem? MY problem?” she yelled back. “How about you exchanging saliva with someone else tonight? Huh?”   
“I am a ROCK STAR Bri!” he ran one hand through his hair, pissed that she seemingly did not know this unwritten rule. “That's what they do!”   
“Fuck that Adam! I can not believe you think that bullshit excuse will work! You have embarrassed me for the last fucking time....” Suddenly her voice grew flat and distant. “ I am going back to the apartment. Find your own fucking way home.” she started the car, shutting the door hard and fast. “ I am sure a rock star like you can find your own way back.” At this she peeled off into the night. Adam stepped behind the car, yelling something she could no longer hear. Tearing into the night, Briar decided that she desperately needed some sleep.


	3. Just Desserts

Beer of all kinds were coursing through his system. They flowed next to the shots of Jack and the Vodka he had partaken of sometime before as Adam stumbled down the street. Not that he knew where this street was. Of course he knew it was one of the more urban streets than the ones he was used to, but that was okay. Hell, even the fact the Briar had left him to walk home was okay. It was all good. She would get it when he got home. Where ever home was.   
“S'upid bit'h Don' know wha' sheesh missin'!” he slurred, slamming his shoulder into the brick wall near an alley. The darkness of the alley confused Adam's unfocused brain. Yet sure of himself in the way only drunks can be he carried on into the darkness.  
Clang. Adam snapped his head in the direction of the trash can that had suddenly fallen over. His brain blurred and fogged by the liquids flowing through his body, he stumbled towards the can and the deep shadow moving behind it. A dark figure had risen slowly from the piles of trash, holding onto a book it had seemingly scavenged from the trash.  
“Damn hobo's.” he grunted out. Taking another look, Adam saw something was off. This looked like no hobo he had ever seen before. It was much too tall and hold on a second... “Is that a cloak?” muttering to himself, Adam squinted at the figure. Reaching slowly into his back pocket he slowly pulled out the pocket knife he kept there. Silently, as much as a drunk man can be, he walked towards the creature. The closer he got the less it looked like any any bum he had ever seen. “Wha' the hell?” he whispered. The figure continued to dig through the trash can, pulling at the bags and searching through the collected garbage in them. As Adam crept, half stumbled towards the figure, it pulled a small box of books from the trash muttering to itself. It began looking through them, tossing some to the ground, while shoving others in it's cloak. Closer and closer he crept, but still it remained totally unaware of Adam's presence.   
Finally, bravery fueled by the liquid courage in his veins, Adam brandished his knife, yelling. “  
ey! You! What in the sam hell do ya think you're doing?”  
The dark cloaked figure whipped around, the hood turning to face him. Solid red eyes stared out at him from the darkness. Narrowing, they pinpointed him and a snarl tore through the alley. The knife clattered to the floor, as Adam stumbled backwards. Scared beyond belief, he turned on his heels and ran as fast as his rubbery legs could take him to the end of the alley. Behind him he still heard the snarl and the creature tearing off after him. This was all the fuel he needed to make it to the street beyond.   
He only turned once to glance behind him, only to see the figure gone. Finally at the area where the alley met the street, Adam stopped. He turned, now amazingly sober. Nothing from the alley came out at him, nothing tore at him or stalked him. Perhaps it had all been some waking nightmare fueled by a good night with the good spirits.  
Heaving a sigh of relief, he gasped to himself. “What the hell was thaAHHHHHHHH!” Claws slammed into his shoulders, black as the night that surrounded them. Looking skywards, Adam saw those red eyes staring down at him from the side of the building he was settled against. The creature was hanging upside down from the ledge of the buildings windows. A snarl as animalistic as any creature that had filled the minds and hearts of humanity since the dawn of time came from the things throat. Before he could cry out again he was torn from the street and disappeared into the darkness.


	4. In Darkness We Trust

Blinding pain. That was what he first felt when he woke up. That and sick to his stomach. A headache was now pounding in his head. Going to put his hands on his head, Adam was surprised to find them bound by rope and cloth. A tug revealed both wrists had been bound to his ankles as well. Whatever had tied him up was smart.“What the?” he whispered. Groggy from sleep, Adam took a moment to realize that he sat in complete darkness. Not being able to make out his surroundings, Adam felt the beginnings of fear rise into his stomach.   
“So you have woken up.” a gravelly voice whispered from the other end of the room, echoing against walls.   
“Who are you? Where have you taken me?” Adam called, his voice quivering slightly.   
“You threatened my life.” the voice said in a matter of fact tone, something crunching in the background. It now seemed closer to him, not as far off as it had been moments before.   
“What in the fuck are you talking about man?” he asked, voice pitched higher than he would have liked.   
“The knife.” this time the voice came from right by his ear. Adam swung his head and still saw no one in the dark. As if a shadow, his unwanted host swooped in and out of range. The voice came from his other ear this time, lingering for a moment as its hot breath washed over his face. “To threaten a persons life should never be taken lightly. It's only gentlemanly.”   
“Gentlemanly?” Adam could not help but snort. “Dude, I suppose you pull out chairs for ladies and open doors for old folks too. Chivalry is dead you dumb shit.”  
The voice growled, the sound of it sending a chill through Adam's spine. Now in front of his face, he could feel the things hot breath on his face, and could smell a hint of meat and blood on the things breath.   
“What manner of man are you?” it asked, voice no more than an echoed hiss. The breath washed over him once more, the warmth reminding him of standing near a furnace. Yet the only warmth Adam could imagine coming from this man's mouth was that of fresh blood and hellfire.   
Adam swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to stay calm.   
“No answer?” the voice now sounded teasingly calm, almost gentle. Adam felt his reserve give away and he shut his eyes in fear. “If you can not tell me what manner of man you are, then I must assume a man you are not. So, Worm, I take my leave of you.” The breath dissipated from his face, and the disembodied voice started to fade away. “If the rats have not eaten you by the time I get back, we shall have a chat about the fate of your well being.”   
“Wait!” Adam called out, not wanting to be left in the dark by himself, no matter how unwanted the company.   
“Goodbye for now Worm.” the voice faded to nothing, leaving Adam in the gloom alone.

*****************************

Some insurmountable time later, Adam awoke. The first thing he noticed was that he could now see where he was. Hundreds of candles were lighting the area around him. One hand was loose, the other now tied to his leg, which were both tied together with a makeshift rope of old torn clothes. Beside him sat a plate of bread chunks and a few apple slices.   
“Eat.” the voice was back, but now Adam could see the cloaked figure sitting at a table at the other end of the room. Candle light wavered in and out, making the figure at the table waver in and out as if some ghostly specter. It was tearing pieces of bread off, and chewing them slowly. The hood of the cloak was down, revealing a head shrouded in shadows except for two red eyes glowing out of the gloom.   
Afforded a look at his surroundings, Adam found himself in a concrete room, books littered what little area he could see in the unreliable candlelight. Books on every available inch of the floor in the room, and thousands more candles, unlit, were placed here and there. Some were stacked on books, others jammed in jars and broken cups. The bottoms of some of them were melted, then stuck against the wall or floor. Many settled on the tables and shelves that lined the wall of the place, some of them were bookshelves, others were just boards resting on bricks, or old milk crates shoved together. Tables were set about the room, covered to spilling over with books, jars and odd tools. Things bubbled and churned on the tables, all many colors and mixes of odd ingredients.   
Adam shook his head, looking once more towards the creature sitting at the table on the other end of the room. He cleared his throat, trying to think of something to say, anything to kill the silence.   
“What..what are you?” he asked, trying to understand exactly how bad of a situation he had found himself.   
“I,” the creature paused, eyes closing. “I have no idea. To tell the truth, I do not know.”   
“What the fuck man? You don't even know what kind of freak you are?” Adam burst out. He regretted his brash words seconds after they left his lips. Something slammed on the table, and the creature stood up. A clicking noise echoed across the cement floor, and bounced off the walls growing louder as he got closer and closer. Cloak billowing around his large frame, the creature moved silently towards Adam. The fear he had felt earlier was now growing bigger and bigger. It grew from an uncomfortable churn of his stomach to a large urge to release his bowels and kidneys. The creature stared at him, its diamond shaped red orbs boring into him as if he were clear as glass.   
It stopped right in front of him and settled on its knees. Cloak pooled about him, the creature squatted next to Adam, staring at him contemplatively.   
“A freak.” the creature let out a noise that sounded somewhat like a chuckle. “What should I do with you?” it drawled, seemingly asking his opinion.   
“Let me go.” he asked, voice cracking with fear.  
“Perhaps,” the thing smiled, a mouth full of pure white sharpened and elongated fangs lighting up from under the shadows of the cloaks hood. “I should eat you. I tire so of fruit and bread.”  
“No.” Adam shivered.  
“Or, should I take your hide and set it at my chair?”  
“Please.” he whispered.   
“No?” the smile faded like a light dimming. “None of these will do? Why, then tell me what is worth my while to let you go.”  
Adam swallowed the lump that had moved into his throat. He thought hard, his pounding head making thinking difficult. First he decided he needed to see the full gravity of his situation. Was this guy just fucking with him for kicks, or was he some sort of freak twisted by years of abuse and dirt, or some creature from hell who thirsted only for human blood?   
After a moment to gather his thoughts, Adam spoke. “Show me what you look like.” he demanded, trying to make his voice steady.  
“Why should I do that, Worm?” the creature snarled.  
“If I am to meet my death, I want to see what it is.” he stated, hoping it was nothing to bad. This thing seemed to like the whole chivalry thing, and if he acted brave maybe the thing would let him go. Adam silently prayed to God, or whatever deity chose to listen to him that day that he was right.   
No response came from the creature. Finally, it let out what Adam could have sworn was a sigh. “If you wish. I only say, what is seen can never be unseen. Be careful what you wish for, Worm.” Clawed hands reached up and pulled the cloak from his face. The hood fell back, and the creature shook its head, letting it's hair settle against its shoulders.  
Adam nearly screamed. What looked at him from inches away was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Gorge rose in his throat, and he suppressed it with a small gag. “You...you are a....a...a beast!” he muttered out, finally losing control of his kidneys. The hot wet stream rolled down his leg, darkening his lap and sending a puddle of urine onto the floor.   
The creature yanked its hand from the floor as the stream touched it. A look of disgust crossed its face, and with a low growl it replaced the hood on its head.   
“I warned you Worm.” It turned, facing the wall. “Now tell me,” once more it looked over at him, its eyes slits of red in the darkness. “What do you offer me? Hmmm?”   
For a moment he was still as death, searching his brain for something, anything a monster like that would take. Eyes wide, Adam was silent as the grave.   
Snarling, the creature whipped around and snatched Adam's face in one large black claw. “Tell me!”  
Finally managing to speak, Adam garbled out his last defense. “My, my girlfriend. You can have her.”


	5. Romeo Was a Fool

The door creaked open, as Adam stumbled in. Beyond the small and dirty window dawn lit up the sky, turning the black to purple, then pink, then to light blue that so expressed the day. Briar, asleep on the futon bed, woke up. She stirred, eyes sleepy with hours of tears and dreams. Sitting up, she stretched, flashing for a moment the black lace panties she wore underneath the large t-shirt that acted as her nightgown.  
Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she yawned. “Adam? Are you okay?” sleep momentarily robbing her of the memory of his adultery. “What smells like piss?”  
He grabbed her hand, pants wet and reeking of old urine. “Baby...look I wanted to apologize for what happened with that girl. She meant nothing to me.” he smiled hollowly.  
Everything came back to her in a rush and she reacted as anyone would. The sound of the smack resounded through the room. “How could you do it?” she asked, whispering.  
“I let the whole rock star thing go to my head.” he kissed her hand, avoiding looking at her. “It was stupid and I swear to you, I swear on my band and my life nothing happened after you left.”  
Briar bit her lip, not believing him. “Why do you smell like piss?” she plugged her nose, face wrinkling in disgust.  
“Drunk guy in the alley. Fucking missed.” he said quickly. Standing up, he pulled her with him. “Come with me, I have got to show you something.”  
His hand gripped hers, squeezing the fingers together harshly. Briar stood up with him, her hand stinging. Something was off about Adam. His face was sunken in, almost skeletal like, and there was a odd look in his eyes. They were darker than normal, the deep color they usually held now having paled to an almost blackish gray. Some light shone in them, giving him a strange and scary aura. Roughly he pulled on her arm, trying to drag her along with him.  
Briar stood her ground, planted at the edge of the bed. Something, something she could not explain told her to stay where she was, not to let the man before her take her once more into some unknown situation. Slowly she opened her mouth to say the words she should have said all those years ago. “No..”  
Just then Adam turned around to look at her, a smile flashing, eyes lighting up with some cheerful idea. It stretched his face, and at that moment he was once more the 17 year old boy with a motorcycle and a guitar on his back. “Come on baby. Lets go.” Against her better judgement Briar swallowed her protests and tore her feet from their place on the floor.

*****************************

Almost swearing she could hear the cars door crack as Adam slammed it, Briar stepped from the passengers side. Silent as the grave he walked into an alleyway she did not recognize. It was light out, the sun just barely making the sky the deep blue it was on such days. Across the road she saw a large glowing sign, lighting up some of the parts of the street and its alleyways that had not yet been touched by the sun. “Recom Tech.” Briar muttered, squinting to read the words acting as a landmark for her to remember where Adam had taken her. His voice shook her from her thoughts.  
“Briar! Come on, it won't take long.” he smiled, voice pitched a little high and seeming to strain slightly. Still unsure what was going on, Briar walked into the alley, finding Adam. Holding up a sewer grate, and smiling widely, he motioned to her. “Come on baby. Jump in. This thing aint exactly light.”  
Warily, she eyed him. “Are you serious?” He wants me to get in a sewer...a sewer? What in the fuck is there to show me in the sewer? Still, Briar bit her lip, and slid under Adam's arm to slide down into the darkness below. A stench of rotting sewage and aging mold hit her nose as she stood in the empty pipe. Above her Adam slid down into the pipe, shutting the grate above him.  
Light streamed from between the cracks in the grate, shining a small amount of light on them from above. Farther than the island of light was complete darkness, a darkness in which Adam was now heading. “Come on Bri. You will never forget this.” he smiled, the smile disappearing last as his form blended with the black.  
Briar stepped forward, calling to Adam. “Adam?” the words passed from her lips hesitantly. From some far off distance he called back to her, the sound echoing.  
“To the right love. Follow me.”  
She took off to the right, half running half walking towards his voice. Hands out in front of her to stop herself from hitting something unseen, she called out to him once more. Each time she called out, he answered, giving her directions. For what seemed like an eternity they played this twisted game of marco polo, until Briar found her way into a somewhat lighted tunnel. Light streamed in from small cracks in the tunnel, not the white light of day, but the yellow light of man made bulbs. Above her there seemed to be some sort of building, its floors cracked and broken to light up the tunnel below.  
Adam was no where in sight, and Briar was scared. She had no clue where she was, and Adam had stopped answering her calls. “Adam...Adam? ADAM?” she called out, hearing only the ghost of her echo reach her ears. Feet slapping the concrete as she moved forward, she called out again and again.  
“Adam! Adam, come on. Where are you?” she backed up into the darkness of a small side tunnel. From the tunnel came a hand, clapping her on the shoulder. Briar screamed, jumping. Reaching back to hit her attacker she was stopped by a familiar laugh.  
“It's just me.” Adam smiled, his voice a low whisper. “...just me.” Briar sighed, resting her hand on his, kissing the knuckles.  
“Wow babe, you scared me.” she laughed lightly.  
"What? This isn't fun for you?" Adam gripped her shoulder, his grip unusually tight. Fingernails digging into her skin, making her wince. Briar bit her lip and winced, opening her mouth to tell him to let go of her. Suddenly she froze, as the pain tore into her back. "This isn't fun for me either baby. It was you or me, and the only thing I love more than you, is me." Adams voice was pitched higher than normal, and warbled a bit. He seemed hysterical.  
Briar turned, and the knife slid out. It was shining in the light of the tunnel, her red blood dripping from the handle. As her back grew wet and warm, she could not speak. He had stabbed me? He stabbed me. Her eyes went wide, and the cement around her blurred as she fell. The floor rushed up to meet her, and she landed hard.  
Above her, blurred by her pain, Adam wiped off his pocket knife, and bent down next to her.  
"Sorry babe, but I had to make a choice. Plus, I'd rather kill you than give you over to him alive." He stood again, parts of him disappearing as the edges of her vision faded. Black reached the edges of her vision, crawling forward to steal all of her eyesight from her. " Nothing of mine will ever be touched by such a.." he paused, voice trembling, his body shaking slightly as if in some nightmare, "such a beast."  
Suddenly, Adams head snapped to the side. A noise in the distance took his eyes off the wounded and weak woman at his feet. From far off, a growl came, its source indistinguishable. It could come from any one of the many tunnels in the underground maze.  
"Come and get her you freak!" Adam yelled, he turned on his heel, running back the way they came. Briar reached one hand toward him. As her world blurred and faded she tried to call out. Come back. Still she could force no words beyond her lips. A shadow appeared at the edge of her vision, stopping for a second then tearing off down the tunnel after Adam. She pooled the last of her strength, and called to him, to anyone.  
"Help..help me." Her voice was weak, but something was on her side that night. Amazingly the weak whisper echoed through the tunnel, making it a shout. The figure stopped short. For but a moment it hesitated, contemplating continuing its pursuit of the man. It seemed to decide against it, then turned to her. Briar looked up as darkness overwhelmed her senses. Red eyes, red eyes in the blackness was what she last saw as everything faded to black.


	6. The Things We Treasure

Darkness, all she could see was darkness. Darkness and warmth. It filled her with a slow and sweet feeling, one she did not remembering feeling in a long time. A moment later, her sleepy brain realized that she was wrapped in a blanket, on a bed of some sort. Turning her head, she tried to untangle herself. Briar moved, her side hurting as she attempted to switch sides. It stung as she stretched, causing her breath to hitch and her form to spasm.  
Her body hit something. Something warm. There was somebody next to her. Her breath caught in her throat, scared. Silently, she poked her head out from under the covers, and peeked at the body next to her.  
The cloak covered him from head to toe, shrouding his features. Fear caught her again. Quickly she pulled her head back under the covers, trying in some infantile way to protect herself from this unknown man.  
There is a strange man laying in bed with me. Laying in bed WITH ME! Many, many scenarios ran through her mind, playing out kidnappings and murders, and wild horrors that could never happen. Why had this happened? Exactly what happened? How am I supposed to explain this to Adam? Briar gasped. Adam. It came back to her as memories are oft to do, in flashes. She remembered that she had led her down to the sewers, he had lead her on some twisted game of hide and seek, and then he... and then he stabbed her. Wait.. what? Briar remembered, her eyes narrowing in anger. The bastard STABBED me! What the hell was he thinking! Wait until I get my hands on him, he would beg for mercy. That was something she was damn sure of.  
Frustrated and trying not to cry she rolled over, forgetting the pain such movements caused. She hissed in pain and clutched her side, writhing under the covers. Above her, a soft voice like a whisper echoed. "The wounds should not be causing her such pain still. The anesthetic in that poultice was quiet potent..." the man next to her sat up, causing the bed to sink under his weight. "Perhaps I need to apply more salve to the wound." Silently he got up from the bed, and Briar heard him messing around with something close to her head. A quiet, "Ah, yes." was followed by the unmistakable sound of someone approaching, a click following each footfall of her capture.   
Closing her eyes, she feigned sleep as well as she could. The covers were removed, their weight lifting from her body, silk and cotton unwrapping from around her. She felt her body being moved, smooth and gentle movements forced her over on her back. A strange sensation hit her every time the man tried to move her, He must have been using something like a tool to turn her over. The edges of the tool felt hard, and almost like cartilage.  
Finally on her stomach, she chanced opening her eyes just a slit. Now that the covers had been removed, she saw what she had thought as a bed was actually a pile of old cushions. They seemed to be stacked on one another balanced on a rug and an old futon. A musty smell came from them, mingled with the odor of fresh flowers. Three old and torn comforters adorned it, making it seem old and almost elegant.  
Across the pile of cushions she saw the rest of the room on her side. The walls were cement, and may have once been bare. Now they were adorned by curtains and draperies that reached the floor. None of them matched, some shorter than others and most were somewhat full of holes and rips. Shelves constructed from milk cartons, and planks of wood placed between cinder blocks were full of leather bound and paper back books and against every wall. The massive library spilled onto the floor, papers, pencils and pens joining the pile. Candles, hundreds of them were set on top of the books, lit and lighting the room almost as if a lamp was on. A circular doorway at the end of the lead to a room blocked from her view by another set of drapes.  
Above her, the man once again laid the odd tool on her back. This time it hooked itself under the bandages that adorned her side. Briar felt the cloth tighten for but a moment, then loosen as they ripped, falling from her side and onto the bed seconds later. Talking to himself in that melodic whisper he used, the man talked to no one in particular. His voice was that of honey and gravel, almost a whisper.  
"This should do it. All it needed was a little adjustment." a warm sensation came over her as she felt something sticky and smooth being poured onto her back, moving forward and downward as the sensation covered her entire body. Once again the tool touched her skin, only now it moved back and forth, rubbing the delightfully warm substance on her back. Clacking sounded as the warmth spread even further, and Briar groggily guessed there were many of the odd tools he used tied together.  
Drug dulling her senses and unable to control herself, Briar sighed, placing her hands under her chin. "That feels so good." she muttered lowly. Suddenly the hands stopped, and the warm sensation no longer radiated down her back. Briar turned her head, to take in her savior. He stood tall in the rounded room, larger than anyone she had seen in many years. A tattered and battered cloak enshrouded him from head to toe, the hood shading his features from her. One single long deadlock lay in the opening of the hood, as if he had hastily put the hood back on his head.  
"The pain has gone away." she sat up, moving slowly as to not bring the pain back on herself. "What did you do?" There was no reply. He just stood there, facing her, silent and stoic. Growing irritated, Briar looked down and saw that she was naked except for her panties. "You undressed me?" she asked, a smirk tugging on her lips. A blush crept up her face for some unknown reason, and lingered even as the man left the room. He had turned abruptly from her, not speaking a word and walked out into the room beyond the drapes. Passing silently through them, he returned shortly.  
In the mans hands were a set of folded clothes, a green t shirt adorned with some high schools mascot, and a large pair of sweatpants stained by some long forgotten accident. He tossed her the new clothing, and turned his back. "I shall await your consent to return. I wish to.." he paused. That whispering voice he had contained some hoarseness, as if it was barely used. "examine you better. Now that you are awake, my questions can receive answers." Again he slipped through the drapes, and the odd clicking noise followed, leaving her to her own devices.

***************************** 

Slipping one leg into the pants provided for her, Briar decided to have a look about the room she currently found herself. She pulled the pants on the rest of the way, and threw on the large t shirt she had also been graciously given. Padding along slowly, she looked at the lay out of the room.  
It was larger than she had expected. The whole room must have been round, and by the fact that it all seemed to be concrete, she deducted it must be an abandoned part of the sewer tunnels. Gripping the shelves that lined the entire room, she hobbled her way over to the far end.  
There sat a table top, its leg having long ago been broken off. It sat on top of two cinder blocks, and was surrounded by more cushions. A chipped tea kettle rested on a torn piece of cloth, accompanied by a set of chipped matching china. Not far from there, a small pit had been made in the cement, and piled with ash.  
Smiling, she turned toward the small pit. "That must be the stove." Above it, a spit sat, a grill placed over the top of the pit. Briar continued around the room. In another corner sat a drawer. She looked behind her, to make sure he was not there, and pulled one of the drawers open. Inside she found pants, many of them ripped and stained. Jeans, all of them. Next drawer held shirts, each one with out sleeves, and torn in places as if by claws. Not thinking much of it, she continued to dig through his clothes. After going through the underwear, she was interrupted by a soft knock on the cement wall across the room.  
"Are you ready?" the voice of her savior called roughly.  
"Just a moment." she called, shutting the drawer and hobbling as fast as she could back to the bed.  
Once she reached it, she took some deep breaths. The room was large, but she should not have been this winded. Her wounds must be worse than she thought. After she had caught her breath, she called to him.  
"Okay, come in." The drapes parted, and he entered, cloak raising slightly. He must have seen her labored breathing for he disappeared in a flash, and reappeared next to her.  
"What happened?" he began to move her, checking her vitals. "Why are you breathing so hard?" Briar shook her head, too winded to talk.  
Tentatively, he lowered his cloaked head to her chest.  
"Wha.." she gasped out, but relaxed when he only placed his head above her heart. For a moment, he listened, then spoke.  
"Your heartbeat seems fine. Maybe changing winded you." he spoke more to himself than anyone else. Briar once again, noticed the hair falling from the cloaks hood. Long black dreads, shiny in the candle light hung from the hood as if part of the darkness inside the cloak itself.  
He stood up, and stepped behind her. She felt the bed shift under his added weight, and she shifted as well.  
"I am going to look at your back. Tell me when this hurts." she nodded, and her shirt was lifted to her shoulders. That odd tool was once again pressed against her back, pressing around where she guessed the wound was.  
"Any pain yet?" he asked, breath on her neck. It smelt of fresh fruit. She shook her head, and he continued prodding. What is with this guy? Briar stared at the concrete floor more confused than ever. One moment he is cold as this fucking floor, then he is checking up on me? What the hell is his problem? On he went, for minutes, or what seemed like minutes. Finally deciding she could no longer take the silence, Briar tried to start a conversation.  
"Where are we?" she asked, looking around.  
His hood moved slightly. The man remained silent for a few moments. Briar was about to re ask the question when his soft voice reached her ear. "In my home."  
"Is it a sewer pipe, or an old tunnel?"  
"Yes."  
"Which one?" she asked, not taking the aversion lightly.  
"The right one." he chuckled, thoroughly enjoying messing with her.  
"Okay, whatever you say."She thought for a moment on something else to talk about, then decided to be polite. "My name is Briar. Actually, its Briar Gantz, but everyone calls me Briar."  
"Pleasure to meet you." he continued prodding her back once again.  
"So..."she smiled again. "What's your name?"  
His prodding stopped, for but a moment, then continued. "The wound seems to have taken to the salve quiet well." his tool now prodded her spine, going up and down, causing her to shiver. "No nervous damage. Good response."  
Noting that he did not want to talk about the name subject, she attempted to change the subject again.  
"I see you like to read."  
Again the odd tool he used to prod her back stood still for a moment. Glancing backwards Briar saw the hood was facing away from her, staring at the shelves against one wall.  
“Oh, yes." she could almost hear him smile. "Books are one of my few pleasures down here." Briar looked at the hood, noticing that he wore it down over his face even when not looking at her, as if ashamed of his face. She turned her head back around to face the wall, now wanting to talk about books.  
"Really? What do you like to read?"  
Again he said nothing for a few moments. In her peripheral vision Briar saw the hood jerk back to face her. Silence ruled the room once again.  
After a few minutes of tense quiet, the man spoke again.  
"Why do you want to know? Going to make fun of a book worm hermit are you?" his soft whisper of a voice held a very harsh venom to it.  
Briar was taken aback. How dare he think something like that of her! She was trying to be nice for gods sake! Biting her lip, she forced herself to stay calm.  
"I used to read a lot as a kid. Then, I just sort of had no time for it." she shrugged, brushing off bringing up her past. That little girl was long since dead.  
No one spoke for a moment. Briar wondered if this was even worth it. The man did not seem to want to talk.  
"Dickens, Shakespeare, Stephen King, Koontz. As of late though, I have had this fascination with Holly Black's faerie world. It is quite intriguing." his voice seemed calmer, less accusing. Yet Briar could still feel the mistrust mixed among the shyness.  
Briar nodded, sensing that this subject seemed to be one he would answer her about, she continued. "Adam did not like to read, and most of my money went to food, and rent, so I have not read a good book in a long time."  
Again, the tool stopped, then began its movements again. Nervousness showing in his voice, he spoke.  
"You are not well enough to walk. I would prefer it if you would stay here so I may monitor your wounds." he cleared his throat. "All my books are yours as long as you stay here."  
Excited, Briar jolted upright, clapping. The pain, harsh as a shot in the gut, shot through her back, and she doubled over. Gently, she was pulled back up right.  
"You would do well not to move too much." his voice was right in her ear, something in his voice causing her to shiver again.  
She nodded. "Thanks for letting me stay." He got off the bed, heading to one of the shelves. Returning, she saw he had a book. The black of the cloak obscured her view of his hands, and the book landed next to her.  
Briar leaned over, and picked it up. Little scratches no deeper than a needles width ran vertically across the front and back. She ran one hand over it's dusty skin, feeling the age of this book. A delightfully dusty smell, one of attics and hidden ancient knowledge hit her as she turned the book around and around in her hand. The leather bound cover had its title embellished in gold leaf. "The Picture of Dorian Gray." she read aloud.  
"It is one of my favorites." he turned to leave, but stopped. For a moment he stood still, then a sigh escaped him once again, and he continued."If it is not yet known to you, you are residing in my bed." a sigh escaped lips hidden beneath the hood. One cloak sleeve gestured to the pile of cushions and blankets. "I feel I must tell you that I slept beside you last night. If it bothers you, then I shall find other sleeping quarters."  
Briar shook her head. "No. You can stay."  
He nodded, and exited the room. Putting herself in a more comfortable position, Briar opened the cover of the book. Before the main title of the story, written on the back of the front cover sat a small inscription half faded by age. Quietly she read off the words, one fingernail tracing the swirling handwriting across the page. " To my darling Enoch. May your days be peaceful in such restless times." There had once been a name signing the book, giving it an identity, but time and fate had forever smudged that identity beyond comprehension. Carefully flipping to the first page, Briar set to reading the story of vain Mr. Gray. The studio was filled with the rich odor of roses, She looked down the page, following the tale of such a divine sitting room. A sound from the doorway took her attention from the text. The cloaked man had poked his head through the drapes.  
"My name is Dais, Dais De Beaumont." as quickly as he had spoken it, his head disappeared behind the drapes once again.  
"Dais De Beaumont." she breathed, falling back, the Picture of Dorian Gray gripped in one hand.


	7. Cloak and Dagger

Dais walked through the long passage ways of the tunnels he called home. His cloak fell away from his chest, moving along in the breeze his movements stirred up. Bare chest rising and falling rapidly, he stopped and leaned against the cold cement of the tunnel.  
Dear god, what have I done? He put one hand up to stop himself from hyperventilating. These days he seemed full of nothing but mistakes. Kidnapping that guy with the knife, then trading him his life for his girlfriends? What the hell had gotten into him? I thought..I thought he would just leave. I had no idea he would actually bring the girl to me! Two hands reached up to his head, and ripped the hood violently down, he needed to think desperately. She had gotten wounded because of him, and he had saved her life. They were even now right?  
Breath still eluding him, he straightened himself up. He needed desperately to think. Nothing made sense. Dragging himself through the tunnels, Dais rounded a corner, reaching the large internal spillway of the sewer system. Fifty feet below his feet, thirty five thousand gallons of water a moment rushed. This was his quiet spot. When things got to noisy, from the sounds of the city above his head, or the noises inside his head, this place cleared them all away.  
Staring below, red eyes half closed he wondered not for the first time why he had invited her to stay. It just did not seem to make sense. Another life form in his sanctuary? Atrocious!  
"You owe her dammit man." he shouted to himself, it coming out as a soft roar. Back in the room with drapes, Briar looked around for the source of the odd noise. Figuring it to be a car above her head, she shrugged it off, and returned to her book.  
At the edge of the spillway, Dais gripped the edge of the tunnel walls, his breath returning somewhat to normal. So many years, so many years he had been alone in his world. Now in only two days he had brought two strangers to his nest, and had invited one to stay. He was moving things too fast! For gods sake, he had removed her clothes, for medical purposes of course but it was still bizarre for him to have to do so! He had even slept beside her! After stitching up the wound, he had lain beside her for but a moment, then had awoken hours later, curled next to her moving form.  
"I slept beside her." realization rang through his voice, widening his eyes. Dais had never slept beside someone in his entire life. A blush ran across his face. No one had ever gotten that close to him, and in such a vulnerable way. The mere thought made him dizzy, and he swooned forward. Hands whipping out to find the tunnels edges once again, he hung his head, trying to catch his thoughts as they spiraled about his head.  
"I must never do that again. She will be disgusted with herself once she comes to her senses. Sleeping beside a monster, who ever heard of such a thing." he sighed. The darkness of the tunnel brought clarity to his mind as it always had before. Sharpening his mind to the razor it had been since birth. Below his feet, the swirling of the spillway was the only sound, soft as a distant storm.


	8. Into the Night

Briar did not know when she had fallen asleep, but she soon realized that she had when movement next to her startled her from her slumber. Bleary eyed, she turned to her left side. The room had grown dark, as only one candle had stayed lit. Dais's voice from beside her startled her for a moment.  
"Relax, it is but me." the bed shifted again, as if he was adjusting himself. Finally settling he spoke to her, only a mass of black in the darkness. "How are you enjoying the book. You must have gotten pretty far, you have been in here for quite sometime."His voice was soft and cold. He sounded bored.  
Briar sighed, slinging one arm across her eyes. "Actually, I fell asleep." when Dais said nothing she explained herself hurriedly. "It's not that I was not interested, it's just that my eyes got tired, and then I woke up when you got in the bed."  
Dais remained silent for a moment. They both lay there, separate and silent. When he spoke, she realized how long they had not spoken.  
Again, his voice betrayed nothing as he curled up on one side of the bed. "How old are you Briar?" in the dark of the room his voice seemed to appear from nowhere.  
Briar did not see how this was relevant, but she answered, wanting conversation. "19 years old, until the 15th of November that is."  
Something like a sigh escaped his lips. "You are young, too young to be here."  
Is he scolding me? Briar sat up, angry at this man scolding her. "What does that matter to you?" she bit back all the insults that lay in her throat.  
"Goodnight, Briar." Dais closed his eyes, pulling his cloak over himself better. The candle went out, flushing the room in complete darkness. They slept.

***************************** 

She awoke to lit candles. One hand reached up, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. I feel gritty. Briar knew she looked terrible. Having not eaten or slept properly for three or more days. It was hard to tell day from night here, so she only went by what little Dais had told her. Whenever she awoke, Dais was nowhere to be found, and he had the odd habit of only returning at night.  
Today however, Dais entered as she woke up, carrying with him a plate of food. Black gloves covered his hands as far as she could tell, and the hood still shaded his face. He walked to the bed, old tattered cloak fluttering slightly with every clicking step. Briar had long since gotten used to that clicking noise. Perhaps he wore steel boots, and they clicked, it was really anyone's guess.  
As always Dais turned from her, setting the plate on the small table next to her side of the bed. Two days or so into living there, Dais had returned with a box full of her clothes, and this small table. Where he gotten it, she never knew.  
"We are in luck. Today I found some good food." Dais spoke, voice containing no emotion. It was not the way he said it that worried her.  
"Found? Good food?" she asked, twisting to her side to look at the food. On top of the silver plate lay a feast of meat and cheese. Fruit of all sorts, grapes, apples, oranges and the like sat juicy and untouched next to the tough and cooked meat.  
Briar looked at Dais's cloaked face. She had never felt so hungry in her entire life, and here he was offering her a feast. "What are you eating?" she asked, reaching for a red juicy apple.  
Dais looked at the drapery covered door, his voice sounding weary. "I have no time for a meal at this moment. My work calls me."  
"Don't go." she asked, the apples juice running over her chin. "Stay here, I want to talk to you."  
"That is not possible. There is too much work to be done." he went to turn away from her, and she reacted with out thinking. Briar reached out, her hand grabbing Dais's. Before he could pull his hand from her grasp, she pulled his hand out from under the cloak.  
Briar screamed.


	9. Sons of Mercy

Coal black claws glistened in the candlelight, the wavering light casting a sort of sheen over the dark skin of his hands. Dais looked down at her for a moment, his breath catching in his chest. She sat very still, staring at the hand in her grasp, mouth opened wide. The scream had long age died out, now it hung open in a silent scream.  
In a flash of anger, Dais ripped his hand from hers, sucking it back under the cloak. His breathing hitched for a moment, the slowed as he looked down at the small frightened girl before him. Briar now looked up at him, eyes wide and frightened, something he knew was going to come in the end. From the very beginning, he had known the day she would see him in his terrible true form would come. It was foolish wishful thinking to hope it would not happen. Yet he had, oh gods how he had hoped that she would never discover his form.  
Briar sat silent, pale as ash. Not a sound came from her, and it would not have surprised him if she had died right then. She seemed to barely breath. Deciding to sting before she could gather her hurtful words, he lashed out. "See something that frightens you, Briar Gantz?" Dais words were laced with a deep and frightening ferocity.  
The sheer wickedness in his voice brought Briar back to her senses. "Your hands..." she whispered. Before her, Dais turned abruptly. There came no sound from him, and Briar doubted she wanted to hear anything from him. Those hands, oh god, those hands. What had hands like that? Nothing she had ever seen and would likely never see in her entire life. Only he had hands so...monstrous.  
With out a word, Dais slipped through the drapes to the other room, leaving her alone with the image of his twisted limbs in her mind.

***************************** 

Loneliness, deep and suffocating, Briar had felt it often in her life, but none more than now. Dais had not come back for several days. Not since she saw his hands. Shivering subconsciously,Briar recalled the hard bone like texture of those three large claws that seemed to be his fingers.  
For the last couple of days, she had awoken to food laid out on the small table next to her. Later, a large pail of hot water along with a bar of soap, and a small handwritten note lay on the table instead. Tired, and still a little bleary she had taken the note from the table. In loopy writing, she read what she could only assume was Dais's instructions for the bucket.  
"Use this to wash yourself. The soap is some sort of orange scent, and is brand new. Be sure to wash the wound on your back carefully." That was it. Other than waking once or twice to find her bandages changed or a note given her instructions about where to find the stuff she needed, she saw neither hide nor hair from her semi spectral host.  
"I need something to do." Briar sat up, wincing slightly as the pain form her wound hit her once again. Over the weeks her wounds had gotten better, but still caused her pain when she moved too much. Briar groaned, falling back onto the bed. She had not touched The Picture of Dorian Grey in a good week, for every time she tried to read it she fell asleep. Not that is was boring, its just that she forgot how reading made her tired. All she had time to do was lay in bed and think about Adam.  
The whole situation confused her beyond thinking properly. After everything she had done for him, the bastard had betrayed her. They had been together for almost three years, and he had stabbed her, leaving her to die in a sewer.  
"Not that anyone would care." she murmured. It was sad to admit, but completely true. Adam was her only family, and her friends were all the groupies that hung out around Seventh Terrace. Every single last one of those people were dumb as hell anyways. If Adam told them she had left, they would not think twice. Plus her boss never glanced at her, and would only notice she was gone once her checks started piling up. If the old fart even noticed at all. "Great." Briar ran one hand through her hair, trying to think of something else to do.  
Still nothing came to mind, and she opted instead to take a nap, like she had done everyday for the last couple of days. Raising one arm over her head, Briar could not help but wish Dais would bring another pail of water to wash in. She was in need of a bath.  
Sleep would not come. Even if she begged, it would not let her wandering mind sleep. Instead it floated above her, letting her mind go over things she had long tried to hide. Her only solace was the quiet rustling of the drapes that acted as a door to the room in which she currently found herself. Bravely, she cracked one eye slightly.  
Dais entered quietly, his hood up, and one clawed hand hauling in a bucket. The other hand held a tray laden with food and drink. Briar sighed slightly. This man was such a puzzle. Never speaking to her, and staying away from her, yet making sure she was taken care of almost over protectively. Adam had never been this much of a puzzle. He was either in rock star mode, or boyfriend mode. Not that there was much of a difference between the two modes anyway.  
Her thoughts drifted back to Adam, how he had been so sweet in the beggining, then a total nut case at the end. Wait, the end? Did she just break things off with Adam? Well of course you idiot. The bastard stabbed you! In the book of things to break up over, that is like number one. She could not help but grin. After all the years, it hurt her that things had gone sour with them, but what a feeling! She was free of that show off pig! Never again would she have to deal with him, and his leg humping of every cute skirt that came along, and as soon as she got out of here, he would be the subject of some of that leg humping. In a prison cell that is.  
Feigning sleep, she did not move as Dais placed the bucket on the floor next to the bed. He was talking to himself, which she noted he only does when there is something on his mind. As usual, the subject of his ramblings was her and the state of her wounds.  
"She seems to be healing exceptionally well. Soon Briar shall leave for the surface, and I can go back to living normally." from under her arm, she saw him stretch slightly, as if his back hurt. She knew he had not been sleeping in the bed next to her, and wondered exactly where he had been sleeping. Dais turned slightly, pulling something from his robes. A small box appeared in his hands as he pulled them from the inside of his cloak, its white top gleaming slightly in the candle light. "Back to sleeping in my own bed, with no foolish girl asking me questions. Demanding things from me. No one to scream at my hands."  
Briar clamped her mouth shut, stopping her self from retorting to the things she heard hurled her way. He thought she was asleep, and she knew he would not speak so freely if he knew she was awake.  
"No more rummaging for extra food. No more sleeping in my damn chair. Just me and my books, as it is meant to be." The bed sunk slightly as he set himself down on it. Briar reflexes kicked in, and she flinched.  
"Then it will be quiet down here again." his whispering voice grew louder slightly. "No more foolish girls trying to get me to spend time with them. To feed them. Someone so dense as to not know where the toilet facilities are located, or to put the soap on the platter and not in the bucket to melt." Briar clenched her teeth, trying not to send some biting remark back to him for insulting her. Dais continued on almost flippantly. "Who bothers me with her incessant twitching as I change her bandages. Or that insane tossing and turning she does whilst asleep. Or that god awful snore that disturbs even the rats in the pipes."  
It was becoming increasingly hard for her to stop herself from yelling at him. Her, snore? Not on his life! She had never snored in her life. This was begging to piss her off. First Adam, then this bastard saying such stupid shit! Yet, she bit her lip, hoping he would leave.  
He did not. "Or leaving her wet clothes on the floor, only to mildew. It takes forever to find clothes for her, and she lets them go to waste. No more." he leaned slightly toward her. Going silent for a moment, he seemed to be waiting for something. She did nothing. Dais sighed, "No more pretending to be asleep to catch what I say." he nudged her with his elbow.  
Briar slowly uncovered her eyes. "You knew?" she asked, annoyed. The hood of the cloak nodded once quickly.  
"It is rude to listen in on someones conversation..." he pushed himself from the bed. Briar opened her mouth to say something, but was silenced as Dais cut in. "Even if the conversation was with themselves."  
A small smile twitched at the side of Briar's mouth. Sighing, Dais pushed himself from the bed, stretching slightly as he walked forward.  
"Anyway, I returned for the moment to check on your wounds, and provide the supper for this night." one clawed hand moved beside him in a little waving motion. "Now that I have, there is work to be done. Goodnight Briar."  
She sat bolt upright, hair a mess and face confused. "Wait!" she called to his retreating back. Dais stopped, and turned to her. Briar froze, wondering why she had called out to him as she did. Yet, she knew why. There was only one answer. She was lonely.  
"Stay, please." When she received no answer,she sat up farther. One leg swung over the bed, she looked over at him. The hood of the cloak was facing her, letting her know that he was listening.  
"Why should I do that?" he asked, voice dripping with venom. "What company could you keep with the likes of me?"  
Briar swallowed, steeling herself. "Look," she pointed to him defiantly. "I am sorry I screamed when I saw your cla.." she quickly stopped herself. "hands. They just startled me thats all."  
Dais remained silent, his hood now facing the curtain. "I'm lonely down here all by myself all day." she murmured, eyes downcast in embarrasment. Of all the things to tell him, she had to say that! How stupid! Now he will think you are some weak minded little girl who needs attention all the time! Stupid stupid stupi..  
Her internal fight stopped suddenly as Dais finally answered. "If you wish me too, then I will spend some time with you."  
Briar looked over at him, puzzled. He agreed? How..wonderful. She smiled, and scooted over. Dais crossed the floor in moments, and drew his cloak around himself as he sat on the bed. Together they sat there saying nothing. Briar kept fidgeting, and Dais only stared forward, hands folded in his lap. Finally, Briar let out a large sigh, and threw herself backwards on the bed.  
"You are so boring! Anyone ever tell you that?"  
He looked over at her, hands moving in a slightly aggitated way. For a moment he said nothing, and then he growled something to her.  
" What makes you think you are any fun?" voice low and husky, he growled out at her, making her blush slightly.  
"Because." she countered, crossing her arms.  
"Yes?"  
"Thats it, because."  
Dais said nothing, but Briar could have put money on the fact that he had sighed loudly.  
"That is not an answer."  
"Yes it is."  
"No it is not."  
"I opened my mouth and words came out. This was in a direct response to your question. So, its an answer."  
"Must we argue about such impertinent little things like children?"  
"Yep."  
Again Dais growled, and Briar giggled a little to herself. Aggravating him was fun, she should do it more often. Putting one hand over her mouth, she smiled at him wickedly.  
"You are so much fun to mess with." fluttering her eyelashes, she smiled at him again.  
He did not respond, just sat there, staring at her as if she were insane.  
"You are insane. You know that?" his turned his head to stare out at the piles of books.  
Briar laughed, sitting back slightly to adjust the bandage a little more comfortably. Beside her, Dais shifted uncomfortably since Briar had moved closer to him. Again, Briar moved closer, resting her hand next to his. She did not mean anything by it, Briar was just a loving person by nature. Everyone needed company, and she was no exception.  
Shifting uncomfortably, Dais tried to start another conversation. Somewhere deep inside, he liked these little insights into normal life.  
"How far have you come in Dorian Grey?"  
Briar turned slightly, pulling the book from the tangle of quilts and pillows. Its dusty cover was smudged by her fingerprints, and one of the pages had been dogeared. Dais looked at the number of pages in the dogear was, and saw that it was only a few pages in.  
He took the book from her, his clawed hands scraping the cover, digging into the leather. Now Briar knew where the small marks that littered the cover were from. Apparently from where Dais handled the book, his claws dug into the leather, creating small scraps and scratches on its surface. Turning the front page, Dais lifted the pages between two claws, turning it over to see the next page. Looking at him amazed, she realized she did not know he could be so delicate with something.  
"You mentioned once that you keep falling asleep on this story every time you try to read it."  
Briar nodded, looking around him slightly to see what page he was on.  
"Yes. Every time I read it, I end up falling asleep. I forgot how reading makes me tired." she explained, yawning. "Actually, what time is it now? I am exhausted." Briar stretched, and pulled the covers up onto her waist. Laying against the large pillows used to prop oneself against the mattress, she looked over at Dais.  
He seemed to be in deep concentration, flipping the page back and forth nervously. What on earth he had to be nervous about was a mystery to her, but she allowed him his time to mull whatever it was in his head over.  
"I will read it to you,if you wish."  
His voice came out of nowhere, startling her slightly. Briar smiled to herself slightly, loving the idea that he read to her.  
"I would love that. Thank you."  
Dais settled himself back into the bed, and the leafed through the pages.  
"The studio was filled with the rich odor of roses, and when the light summer wind..." Dais read, his melodic whisper of a voice echoing in the room they shared.

***************************** 

Dais sat upright, still reading. Briar had long since snuggled closer to him, and though he knew he should not, he let her. Her arm was wrapped about his waist, the other cushioning her head. Dais had never been this close to someone in his entire life.  
"Society, civilized society at least, is never very ready to believe anything to the detriment of those who are both rich and fascinating. It feels instinctively that manners are of more importance than morals, and, in its opinion, the highest respectability is of much less value than the possession of a good chef."  
Briar nodded, her eyes getting droopy, as she listened. The warmth of the bed, and the comforters were lulling her into a damned sleep. I do not want to sleep, I want to hear him read. She tried to stay awake, fighting her urge to follow the lullaby of the night into the dark of dream.  
"It should have the dignity of a ceremony, as well as its unreality, and should combine the insincere character of a romantic play with the wit and beauty that make such plays delightful to us. Is insincerity such a terrible thing? I think not. It is merely a method by which we can multiply our personalities." A hand on his leg stopped Dais before he could continue.  
Her voice thick with sleep, Briar spoke to him, smiling in the dark. "As much as I want to see if Dorian looks at his picture, can we call it a night?"  
"Yes. Of course. Another day then." He sat the book aside, settling it beside him. Briar smiled tiredly, settling her head on her arm. Dais turned slightly, drawing his cloak about himself as he lay down. Together they lay on the bed, close but separate. Soon, Dais could hear the soft breathing of a sleeping Briar. Moving slightly, he felt something warm touch his hand. He flinched and twisted his head round slightly, to see what it was that was touching his hand.  
Laying in the palm of his clawed hand, Briar had wrapped one of her hands around his. His breath hitched in his chest once again. She was touching him in her sleep, holding his hand in all actuality.  
Face growing hot, he tried weakly to pull his hand from her grasp. In his defense, Briar had a strong grip when she was asleep. He tried once more to pull himself from her grasp, then he gave in. Settling his head on one of the pillows, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, one hand curling slightly to cover Briar's.


	10. Comings and Goings

“Stupid little machine!” Briar swore under her breath, looking at the small silver radio sitting on the bed next to her. For almost an hour and a half she had been tinkering away at the piece of junk trying to get any sort of sound to come from its busted speakers.   
Fingering a small screw that was almost close to falling out, she swore once more as her thumb slid off its metal surface. With a frustrated sigh she just shoved the batteries into the back and turned it on, not even bothering to re-attach the back panel.   
“You had better work, damn you. Or I am putting your metallic ass back in the box of useless shit Dais has....” her voice was almost a growl. Briar was not the most technologically inclined of people, but she knew how to toss a good threat. Fiddling with the dial, her ears were met with only static for the first few moments. Just as she was about to give up, the sound of some old folk song hit her ears. Now moving the dial back and forth like she was performing some sort of surgery, Briar finally found a station playing music loud enough for her to hear. It was an oldies station, songs that no one had heard in years and whose talent trove of singers and musicians had fallen into obscurity.   
“Haha!” she shouted, pumping her fists in the air, only to regret it seconds later. Bent over slightly she continued her celebration. “Heh, I KNEW I could get you to work! Almost had me beaten you robotic like piece of..”  
Suddenly from behind her she heard a voice. “You have gotten it to function properly?” his voice came right from behind her ear, and Briar stiffened.   
“Oh SHIT!” she gasped, letting all the air she had been holding in her lungs out in one large burst. Scrabbling to get her breath back, Briar turned one wild eye on the cloaked man behind her. “For the love of everything holy Dais, say something before you sneak up on someone!” she clutched one hand to her chest, glaring at him.  
His voice was hearty, and could she have seen his face, she perhaps would have seen a smile stretching across it. “I did. I asked you if you got it to function. Any sneaking was done unintentionally.” He held up both of his black claws in the air is if to signify that he had in fact meant no harm.   
Briar smiled at him, the sight warming his heart. “Why Dais De Beaumont, did you just make a joke?”   
“I do posses a sense of humor Briar.” he replied coolly. At this Briar feigned a gasp and fell over dramatically.   
“The world has come to an end!” she sighed, putting on her best hopeless accent. Dais let out a slight growl, then chuckled.   
“If you continue to move in such a manner you are going to hurt yourself once more. The wound you obtained has not fully healed yet.”   
Being the respectable and mature adult she was, Briar stuck her tongue out at Dais. This was something she soon regretted as the moment the pink organ left her lips, it was being clutched between two of his large pointed claws. It did not hurt, as Dais was not putting any pressure on her, but he held her so that she could not escape his grasp.   
“This organ should stay in the mouth of its owner.” he drawled, voice playful. Suddenly he let go of her tongue, her body instantly recoiling it into her mouth. Briar swallowed the lump in her throat, then looked away to hide the blush spreading across her face, against her will.  
“I got it to work. This might be the only station we get, but so far it hasn't played any really bad songs.” she smiled, turning up the volume on the small radio. Lithely she slid off the bed and looked at Dais from over her shoulder.   
“I love music, there is just something about a good beat that makes me want to move.” slowly she began to rotate her hips, rocking slowly to the tempo of the song that flowed from the speakers. Moments later, she was moving across the room, body sliding in and out of dance moves like water. From his spot on the bed, Dais could not take his eyes from her. Never in his life had he seen someone move so lightly.   
“It is almost as if she is made of smoke, should I touch her, she would fade from my grasp.” he muttered under his breath, staring at her shaking form. Now everyone knows that smoke is always in the company of fire, and Dais was soon feeling it. Briar winked at him over her shoulder as she slid to the floor and back up again. His face was on fire, a blush heating his face as it slowly spread across his cheeks, tracing a path between his eyes.   
Briar looked over her shoulder as the music faded into another song, and the deep throaty voice of the stations DJ took over the room. Smiling, she slid over to Dais. Her steps light, not yet out of the beat of the music. Standing before him, she bent low to his ear and teasingly whispered to the hood of the cloak. “Dance with me.”   
Dais sputtered, his breath hitching in his chest. “Wha, what?” he stuttered, tongue failing him for a moment. She laughed one of the few true laughs he had heard her utter.   
“Dance with me, ya big lug!” the laugh had reached her eyes, making them sparkle. “Come on, the DJ said the next song will be a slow one.” With a mischievous smile stretching her face, Briar grabbed at one of exposed hands setting on the bed.  
“I...I do not know how to dance.” Dais resisted, using his weight to stay in his spot, trying to root himself in place.   
At this Briar dropped his hand, staring at him. “ You poor thing! You don't know how to dance? This is a situation that must be fixed.” Again she gripped his hand, leaning back as she tried her best to haul his mass from the bed. For a few seconds she tried in vain, until begrudgingly, Dais came to his feet in front of her.   
“Come on Dais, let me show you how to dance.” she smiled, locking her fingers in his, not knowing how the small touch was effecting her unwilling partner. “You do so much for me, yet I do nothing for you. Let me pay you back.”   
Shakily, he stepped forward into the middle of the room, watching as Briar readjusted the volume on the radio. A slow, classical song poured from the speakers, setting an almost Victorian feel into the room. She dropped his hand suddenly, smiling as she turned to face him. “What is your favorite music?”   
For a moment, Dais could not think of anything to say, then he muttered something to himself. “What?” Briar asked, frowning slightly as his muttering.   
“I...I have rarely ever heard music.”   
“Really? You are serious?” she stared at him, stunned.  
“Old hymns, and sometimes a few bars and notes from the old masters will float down here. Once, the music book from “The Phantom of the Opera” floated down here, the music on the page looked so beautiful....” he trailed off, lost in reverie for that long forgotten piece of paper.   
“I loved Erik, the master of music and magic. He was a creature of the night, hidden from the world because of his...” again he trailed off, shaking his head violently. “No such matter.” he muttered.   
“Haven't you heard anything new? I mean, surely you must have been in the subway tunnels once or twice.”  
Dais scoffed, waving one clawed hand about. “Oh yes, I have been in those tunnels.” from the tone of his voice, Briar could almost imagine the scowl on his face. “Filthy cans of the poor and those too busy to care. Oh yes, I have heard the music in those places, but I have never stayed long enough to catch anything more than the rare snippet.”  
'Okay then!” Briar clapped her hands in front of her face, a determined look crossing her face. “We are starting out with the basic slow dance.” Throwing her arms forward, she grabbed both of his arms, and pulled them to her body. He jerked back, surprised as she tried to get his arms to wrap about her body.   
“Dais! Let me show you how to hold me.” she bit out, trying to remain patient. Relaxing only a tiny bit, she managed to get his hands in their proper places. One clawed hand rested on the small of her back, the other settled against her shoulder. Both of her arms were wrapped about his shoulders, Briar standing on her toes to be able to even reach the mass that made them up.   
_“Wow, he is muscled up here...._ ” Briar caught herself, making herself stop thinking such thoughts. _“He has claws girl....CLAWS. DO. NOT. GET. ATTACHED.”_ A voice called from a small part of her mind, and she bit her lip trying not to ruin the moment.   
“Now, move with me.” she swayed her hips slightly, motioning for him to do the same. Stiffly, he shifted his weight. “Dais, move WITH me.” she looked at him with a pout, trying to make him understand.  
As she babbled on about the dance, Dais's head was in a whirl. It had been enough that she had started sleeping holding his hand, but now here he was with his arms wrapped about her. The warmth of her skin rested against his, soft and silky under his touch. Something like a heat grew in his chest, images of him holding her racing through his mind. Desperately, he tried to control his thoughts, force such fantasies from his mind.   
“Never.” he muttered.   
“DAIS!” Briar's sharp voice cut into his thoughts, grounding him once more in the moment. “Are you even listening to me? I said move your hips from side to side.” she slipped her hands from his shoulders to his hips, guiding them from side to side.   
He followed her motions, earning himself a smile. At that moment, he gave up on fighting her, deciding a smile was worth anything she wanted to put him through. Soon they were moving across the floor, Briar sometimes switching up the moves, watching as Dais quickly took her cues. For ten songs they danced, sliding across the floor.   
***************  
As a slow classical symphony played through the room, Briar stood, her arms around the neck of her large friend, his arms wrapped about her, holding her almost as one would a lover. The candle light in the room gave them just enough light, allowing an almost romantic atmosphere to take over. Sighing, she rested against him.   
“You know if this was some novel, or some sort of Victorian romance, this would be the moment when we kissed.” she tossed off, blushing. Dais froze for a moment, then smiled to himself. Just at that moment Briar looked up, right into the hood of his cloak.   
Seconds later, she found herself standing alone. Dais slipped through the curtain, leaving the room in a hurry.   
“Dais?” she called out, not understanding what had gone wrong, her own heart beating fast.  
“I have to run out, chores. Yes, chores, I forgot to do.” he stuck one claw through the curtain and waved at her lightly. “I shall see you in a few hours, thank you for teaching me to dance, it was quite....enjoyable.” his voice cracked slightly, then he was gone.   
“Sure.....anytime.” she trailed off, face getting red.   
_“What on earth were you thinking?”_ she screamed in her head. _“You were planning on kissing him right then!”_ Briar fell to the bed, holding her hand above her mouth.   
“My god, I was wasn't I?” That line about the novel, and the moments before, something in her had wanted to kiss him passionately. _“He is not that kind of guy, we know this. Do you want hurt?”_ she shook her head. _“Then never do that again.”_ Briar nodded, pushing such thoughts from her head. Dramatically, she collapsed against the bed, face red with embarrassment.


	11. Fairy Tales

Dais slammed into the wall of the tunnel, breathing heavily. He had run all the way from his room to this far off branch of his steel labyrinth. _“What in the seven hells man?”_ His inner voice screamed at him. _“She almost saw that smile..... saw your face! You know she will never come back if she sees your face.”_ He nodded, clutching his head as he rested it on his knees.   
“She looked as if she wanted to kiss me...” he muttered, closing his eyes tightly. Gods, how he wished that was what he had seen in her face. “She almost kissed me.”   
_“Boy, allow me to make this as monosyllabic as remains possible. A woman like that will never fall for a man like you, never. Forget these fantasies, you know as well as anyone fairy-tales do not exist. Forget it, you don't want to get hurt do you?”_  
Dais slowly shook his head, body shaking from a mixture of nerves and sadness. “No, I don't want that.”   
_“Good, then we are agreed. Forget it.”_  
In the dark of the tunnel, Dais tried to forget that look she gave him moments before.


	12. We Pay for Our Sins

Sitting up, Dais looked over at the sleeping form of his guest. For over a month now he had slept beside her, and every now and then she would curl up to him or hold his hand in her sleep. When this happened, he would lay awake a blush on his face and no strength to pull her off. He never mentioned these incidents to her when she was awake, seeing no need to stir up something she probably did without knowing in her sleep. Mixing this in with the fact that just days before they had danced together, a thought that still sent his mind into fireworks, and he was beginning to doubt his sanity in the company of this young woman.   
Sleepless and restless, Dais moved again trying to convince his body to sleep. This is sort of hard to do when your mind and body are waring against each other for the command of ones actions. It was all in futile effort, as it seems he moved too much for his sleeping guests liking. Briar murmured something along the lines of “Quit moving so damn much.” in her sleep, moving slightly to accommodate Dais's new position. Beside her sat a thick tome tucked halfway under the covers, its pages brown and fading. They had long since finished The Picture of Dorian Grey, and now had gotten halfway through The Man in the Iron Mask. Over the weeks she had listened through the night, and sometimes into the dawn as he had retold her the stories held within the thick volumes on his shelves.  
Over a month had passed and Briar had been getting better each day. Most of her strength had returned and her movements no longer caused her pain. Trying to be a good guest, she had begun to clean and help about the place, making sure to cook, and leave him to be in his mysterious study. He had been in said study for a few days lately, avoiding seeing Briar unless absolutely necessary. Those moments as they were dancing, as he held her in his arms, Dais began to feel something oddly new to him rising within his chest. It was a burning sensation of sorts, and though it hurt, it had the oddest sensation of being pleasant. That second where she looked into the hood of his cloak, aside from the fear of her seeing his face, was one of the happiest of his life. Ever more so than the day when he found the entire collection of Tolkien untarnished and in mint condition in a box beside some dumpster. That was how amazing that moment had been, in Dais's mind it had trumped Tolkien.   
Now he hid himself away, trying to act as if nothing had changed. In truth, everything had changed at that moment, as even Briar had begun acting weird. Whenever she caught him, and his mind would freeze as he looked upon her , she would question him about himself.  
_“You know a lot about me, but I only really know your name.” she asked, not looking at him as she fidgeted with the small fire in the pit.  
“Is anything more really required? You will be leaving soon.”  
Briar was silent for a moment. “Still, it would be nice. You are actually enjoyable to talk to.”  
He had held his breath for a moment as his heart beat faster in his chest at her words. “I tire, shall we continue our path into the livelihood of our dear Mr. Gray?”  
She had nodded, and climbed into the bed they had shared for so many nights, as he tried to focus on the words in front of him and not the body beside him._  
For some odd reason unknown to him, Briar's questions upset him, forcing him to dredge up bad memories just to answer her. The worst was when she breached the subject of her near death in his tunnels. At the mere mention of her ex lover, and she would begin to question why she was there in the first place bile would rise in his throat. Guilt over the the circumstances that lead to her nearly fatal accident always resurfaced. Even now, as he looked at her sleeping peacefully it struck him hard as any hit he had ever taken.  
Dais ran one hand over his face, the hood pulled across his shoulders. Briar was asleep and all worry of her seeing his face vanished in the few hours in which he slept beside her at night. She was down here because of him, stuck in the sewer amongst the rats and the slime. Something she did not deserve in the slightest. Adam and himself had condemned her to this pit of darkness for the time being, as Dais slowly felt the movements of an unseen pendulum growing closer with each breath. It was not right, somewhere in the world above Adam was sitting pretty in his apartment, thinking the world was not a damnably darker place now that she was not in it.  
That arrogant coward was more to blame than himself, yet Dais had pushed the man too far. After reading all those psychology books Dais could not resist playing the monster. With a sigh he thought to himself, A part I was born for.  
"I did not even begin to think he would bring you down here Briar." he whispered to her sleeping form. She did not stir, chest moving slightly as she breathed in and out. Yet the guilt did not dissipate at the confession, it lingered clenching at his heart and paining him. Anger settled into his soul as well, more anger than he thought he could ever have for a person. Dais was mad at himself for having to push Adam that far for no reason other than his own selfish pleasure, then a fury rose for Adam.  
“Adam...” Spitting the word out as if some horrid taste in his mouth, it coming out in a low guttural growl. The worm had caused all the pain the girl was going through and more. One man had ripped Dais's sanctuary in half twice by two random acts of stupidity. That man was now free and enjoying himself. Dais could not allow that to go on. Adam's freedom had come to an end, he was going to make sure of it.  
***************************** 

Stars once brighter than an oil fire, dampened themselves almost to nothing. It was as if they hid themselves to prevent anyone from seeing the dark figure on the old fire escape. A common courtesy for the night and her children, and tonight Dais could not be more thankful for the nurturing mother of darkness. He leaned forward, peering into the darkened window. A piece of paper in Briar's wallet had lead him here, and he was stalking the one person in the world to whom he wished harm. Crouching like some over sized predatory bird and silent as the grave, he waited for the person he was seeking to reveal themselves.  
His wait was not long, as the light near the front door soon grew dim as a smiling Adam lead a young red head out of the front door. Leaning against the doorway, he gently pushed her out and kissed her neck lightly. Smiling she started talking to him, touching him with every other word. The display made Dais's stomach churn. How he longed for Briar to look at him the way this young woman looked at his prey. After chatting for a moment he shut the door, and leaned against it. Walking into the living room, Adam lit a cigarette and set himself on a chair. Dais whipped one clawed hand out, and rapped once on the window.  
A confused look passed over Adam's face, soon becoming fear as he saw who it was. The old urge to play the part of this man's nightmare resurfaced, and against his better judgment Dais decided to once more play the part of monster. Dais then pushed both hands onto the window pane before he crashed through it. Glass flew through the air, littering the dirty floor. Both hands now at his feet, Dais crawled his way toward Adam, crunching glass and growling like some sort of feral beast. He ignored the pain as some of the glass shards pricked at his blackened skin, for what he planned to do to Adam he needed to be the monster Adam had known. The man in question was now on his feet, his cigarette now forgotten on the floor still glowing red.  
"Wha...what do you want?" he called, voice quivering slightly. Dais did not respond, letting only a low growl erupt from his throat echo throughout the room. Dais himself was slightly impressed at the monstrous quality within the sound and made a mental note to use it again later. Again Adam tried and failed to assert himself, panic showing in his face as he fell over himself trying to get away from the large bulk slowly moving toward him.   
"What do you want now? I kept the deal! I kept the fucking deal!" he nearly screamed. Again no answer came from Dais as he continued to crawl forward. Finally letting the tension break Dais spoke, his deep whisper like baritone sounding throughout the room silencing Adam's pleas.  
"Forgive my intrusion Worm, I was just feeling nostalgic." Slowly he formed the last word relishing the widening eyes of the man before him. He cocked his head to the side, letting a sadistic grin slip onto his face. "The act of you pissing yourself brings back so many memories. Wouldn't you agree, Worm?" Suddenly he vanished from Adam's view and reappeared in front of him. Drawn to his full height, Dais wrapped one claw around his throat squeezing only slightly. Lifting the terrified man from the floor, he breathed lightly in his face. His breath smelt of Briar's perfume, as he had purposely swallowed some to add to the believability of his final tale.   
"I came to tell you the girl has been taken care of." he growled lowly. At this, the look of fear on Adam's face faded, replaced now by something darker and more twisted than anything Dais had ever witnessed.   
The noise started low, like a whimper from a wounded animal. Then it grew, increasingly getting louder and more depraved. Adam was laughing. The mere sound of it caused shivers to race up Dais's spine. Something was wrong here, this much he knew, and his instincts were kicking him for having pushed again. With a flick of the wrist Dais tossed the man to the floor, sending him sprawling on his side against the farthest wall. His insane laughter did not stop.  
Adam pushed himself up from the floor, laughing all the while. Stepping back one step into some of the glass, Dais raised an eyebrow at the sight before him. Leaning forward, two hands on his knees Adam was laughing hard. Too hard. Almost hysterically, and he looked at Dais with a wicked grin on his face.  
"What did you do? Eat her bit by bit? Skin her and sit it at your chairs feet? Tell me, what did you DO!"  
Instinct told him to get out of there, and fast. His only retort was to let out an indignant snort at Adam and his rude suggestions. Turning on his heel, Dais headed toward the window and was leaving. That was until he heard the last thing Adam said to him.  
"Thank god.” he breathed out between bursts of laughter. “I was really getting tired of the bitch."  
Dais stopped short, a growl coming from his throat. He did not know what made him do what he did next, all he knew was that he could not stop his hand as it whipped from his side.  
Air sliding around him, Adam never saw or felt the punch. It even took him a few seconds to realize he was flying through the air. With a huge crash he slammed into the wall, slumping to the ground. Before him stood Dais breathing heavily, a furious look in his red eyes. Blood stained his hand, the crimson color standing bright against the ebony black of his claws. He stepped back, then turned and bolted for the window. Adam finally was able to pull his head up, and he looked over at his assailant. Sitting on the window sill, Dais turned and spit disgustedly at him. Then he threw himself out of the window and into the night beyond.  
Getting to his feet Adam wobbled forward toward the window. Grabbing onto the sill still covered in broken glass, he peered blearily into the night. The only thing to be seen was a dark shadow slipping unnaturally fast along the rooftops. Adam looked around stunned, it was a few moments before he even felt the hot substance running down his face. Reaching one hand up to touch the side of his face, he felt a stinging sensation on the left side of his entire head. Adam did not even realize he had been cut, but the blood on his fingers was the proof. The Beast had marked him, and Adam was going to figure out someway to get him back. He bet his life on it.


	13. The Fall After Pride

Screaming. That was the first thought to come to Briar in the fog of sleep. Someone was screaming in the tunnels. Briar sat up straight, the new comforter Dais had confiscated falling off her as she jolted from her sleep. There was something familiar about the scream, and as she came out of that place between dreams and life she realized her mistake. She had been wrong. It was not screaming, but it was a roar she would know anywhere.  
A moment later, she was heading toward the noise as fast as she could, as hobbled up as she was she could not move to fast for fear of hurting her side once more. Briar stopped at the curtains that lead to the room Dais always hid himself during the day as she slept. She had never entered here before, not that she had not tried. Each time she had been thwarted by her large cloaked host as he blocked the entrance and assured her that there was nothing interesting in the room. Many times she had tried to sneak in when she thought he was out, but each time she came face to chest with Dais. Yet now he was nowhere to be seen and now she felt it was time to see where her host spent his days. Defiantly she tossed the curtain to the side and stepped in.  
Yet her victory of seeing Dais's final sanctuary was spoiled, as right at that moment he collided into her. They fell to the floor, Dais falling onto his back, Briar being knocked off her feet and sliding across the floor slightly.   
"What in the seven hells happened?" Dais groaned,sitting up straight.  
"Fuck." Briar winced, putting one hand on her head to help the pounding that had started. "I had no idea your chest was so fucking hard." They sat up staring at each other for a moment. Nothing was said and Briar looked up at him, with a look of curiosity. After a moment she opened her mouth to ask him what the screaming had been about, when he reacted.   
It hit him suddenly. As if time had caught back up to him, he quickly reached out and grabbed Briar by the shoulders. "I have something to tell you!"   
Her eyes widened in shock, mouth shutting with an audible snap. "Go on." she nodded, looking over at his cloaked face.  
Gripping her arms in his large clawed hands, he lead her through the curtain. Briar sighed as the small glance she had of the mysterious room disappeared behind the thick curtain and the bulk that was Dais. Silently, he moved her to the bed, having her sit on the edge as he started to pace about the room. Briar knew something was wrong, as the usually calm man was acting as if he was in some sort of panic.  
"I do not know how to tell you this,” he paused then glanced at her for a second, resuming his pacing. “ So first allow me to ask you a question." he breathed out, voice rising slightly. "Do you think people, any body deserves a second chance? That some sins are forgivable?"  
"Sure. Mistakes are a human trait. Second chances are needed for most things. What did you do Dais?" she gasped suddenly. "You did not kill someone did you? Oh Dais, tell me you didn't kill anyone!"  
"No no no no." he waved that off. " I have never killed anyone on purpose or by design..... but I digress. So people can be forgiven in your eyes correct?"  
She nodded, fueling Dais on as he paced, hands waving around and moving as he talked. "Good, good. Now another question." at this he stopped pacing suddenly at looked at her, hood staring directly at her. "Is what Adam did to you forgivable?"  
At this Briar sneered. "I do not want to sound like a hypocrite, but no. No one involved in such a thing is forgivable in my book. Unless you hurt someone you can be forgiven, after blood is shed I believe it should end there. He can rot in hell, him and that god damned idea he got into his fucking head!"  
Dais felt his heart drop into his stomach. This is not good. Not good at all. Perhaps he should put it off, telling her his role in her situation. Yeah, that was good, just don't tell her. He could live with that, he hoped. After all what was a little guilt?  
_"Forget it buddy. You can't live with it. Tell HER!"_ the voice that had convinced him that she had not wanted to kiss him was back. It erupted in his skull and forced the next few words from his lips. "I am so sorry!" He moved forward as if physically propelled by the words escaping his mouth.   
Briar was visibly taken aback. She looked confused and scooted herself off the bed slowly, mulling over what he had just said. Coming toward him, she stopped next to him and looked up at him softly.  
"Sorry for what? What did you do Dais?" she put one hand on his arm, gripping the cloak under her fingers. At her touch he recoiled, jerking back violently.  
"I put it in his head! It was me, I took him when he was in the alley and he used you to barter his freedom and I let him go and he brought you down here and I am so sorry!" he roared at her, voice panicky and forlorn. For a moment nothing was said and Dais's brain began to calm down from the storm that had been brewing between his ears since he had crashed into Adam's place. Staring at Briar he waited for something to happen, yet nothing did. Briar did not react at first, just stood there, her hand frozen in mid air where his arm was. She just stayed still and stared at him. Dais stared back, his chest heaving slightly, almost as if something heavy had been lifted off of him . He felt better actually, like he could breath for the first time in months. A slight smile graced his face, and for a moment he took his eyes off of Briar. Dais was beginning to think that things could only get better now that the truth was out. That was until she punched him in the face.


	14. Final Requiem

The sound of his nose breaking could be heard all about the room. It's sickening crunch was followed shortly by her scream of pain and frustration. "You? You are the reason I am down here now?” she nursed her hurt wrist, having felt a nasty crack as it had collided with Dais's nose. “The reason why my.. my boyfriend of so many fucking years went nuts and plunged his fucking knife into my back? What the fuck Dais! What in the hell did I do to you?" She screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks as she tried desperately not to cry. She did not want to cry in front of him.  
His voice was choked as he was trying to stop the blood now flowing from his nose with one of his hands. "Briar I.." he started only to be stopped by her once more.   
"You were who he was talking to wasn't it? The one he...he sacrificed me too? How could you!" Now the tears were ceasing, being replaced by anger and pain. Her eyes became slits and she hissed at him. The venom in her voice was almost palpable. "I can not believe you! After all this time... I actually thought we were becoming friends."  
Dais's heart leaped into his throat, right before it fell back into his stomach. They had been friends? He had never had one of those before. Well he had, a long time ago, but it was just a stuffed animal he had used as a child. Yet, now he knew she thought of them as friends. Well, she had until his confession moments before. Now he had lost the only living friend he had ever had. That hurt him, and it hurt him bad.  
"I dib noh mean foh it ta habben, he brandisht' tha knif at me as I wa' collectin' some books. So I took 'im and played wif 'is 'ead a lille bit. Bringin' you wab 'is idea!" he pleaded with her, voice muffled. The blood was starting to stop, yet he did not even notice. Briar was the only real thing in his life and he did not want to lose that. Not now, not ever.  
"You messed with his head? What the hell is your problem Dais? You don't mess with people's heads! No one knows what someone will do in that kind of situation! Thanks to you, I got stabbed and nearly died!" Briar could not control herself. She was mad that he had let her go this whole time thinking him her savior. "Adam was right, you are a beast." She spit out, hating him at that moment more than she hated Adam or anyone more into her entire life.  
At that, Dais snapped. Gripping his nose between two of his claws, he snapped it back into place. The sound of the crunch echoed about the room, sickening Briar. Yet Dais did not seem to notice. He stepped toward her, growling lowly, blood on his hands, the red stark against the black of his skin. She stepped backward, scared of him for only the third time in the few months she had known him. Together they backed up one agonizing step at a time, almost as if dancers in some morbid tango for two. With a small yelp of surprise, her back hit the wall of the room, the cold cement sending a chill through her body.  
" That is correct Briar Gantz. I AM a monster." His voice now clear and no longer choked with blood, he grabbed his hood. "Allow me to show you."  
Unable to look away, Briar looked up as he tore the hood from his head. From where the hood had once been, skin pale as snow colored a young chiseled face. His brows were thick and oil black, and both eyes were heavily lidded. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, making it look as if he had not slept in sometime. A large bulbous nose set on his face, shading a set of full lips. A set white points poked through into his bottom lip, and after a moment she realized that they were in fact his teeth. Large and razor sharp they poked into his lip, making his smile dangerous as any sharks might be.  
A head full of oily black dreadlocks hung from his scalp, making him a crown. Yet the most distinguishing feature he possessed was his eyes. Oh god his eyes were so strange. Red as the blood in her veins, they sported no pupils, leaving no black to taint the pure color of those gorgeous orbs. From the black circles surrounding his eyes, the blood red of his eyes stared at her, unblinking.   
Her thoughts were cut short as he spoke.  
"What interests you so?” He swiveled his head around with inhuman flexibility, almost turning it on its side. “Does my countenance frighten you? It did Adam, lead him to madness." she looked away, scared by his tone. No emotion was in those red eyes, buried somewhere deep within himself. She had once seen such a look on television. It had been one of those programs about sharks. For a moment the camera lingered on the eyes of a Great White, and she had never been able to forget the way those eyes looked. Yet now she was once more faced with those eyes, only inches from her face.  
Leaning close to her, he pulled one hand from under his cloak. Running it down her cheek Dais closed his mind to the thousands of thoughts rushing through his head at the feel of her skin. Then, almost as if he was going to kiss her, he leaned his head next to her and whispered something into her ear.  
"Did your mother never tell you the story of Little Red Riding Hood?" his voice was husky, almost a purr. "Never trust a monster." His lips lingered near her ear, so close she could feel his hot breath bursting over her skin.   
After a moment more, he flung himself away and took to staring at the wall opposite where she stood, knees shaking.   
"Now, if you do not want to wake up one morning and find I have eaten your heart, I suggest you leave." he waved her off with one hand. "I've grown tired of your presence anyway."

*****************************   
Briar did not move from her spot behind him. For the longest time she just stared at his back, trying to stop her knees from shaking and her heart from beating away her life. Dais twitched nervously, waiting for her to leave. When she did not, he finally let his temper snap.   
“GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! NOW!” he roared at the top of his voice. The sound echoed through the cement room, magnifying into an unidentifiable primal scream. Heaving, he watched as she defied him and stood her ground.   
"Fuck you Dais." Was all she said, a tear beginning to roll down her cheek. She bolted from the room and through his workroom, and out into the tunnels beyond.  
She tore off into the tunnels, hobbling as fast as she could. Tears were once again forming on her face as she turned corner after corner. The pipes were like a maze, and she had no real idea of where she was going. Finally she found herself at a drain that lead to the street, the light from the street lamps shone down through the grate above. There she collapsed, sobbing as the dust and air danced around her in the pinstripes of light. Briar could not believe she had let herself be so naive! Of course he was the one to cause for me to be down here! I mean this whole time I thought we were becoming friends, and he was just nursing a guilty conscious.  
Wiping her eyes, she stood up, and unhooked the grate. "Bastard." She climbed out onto the street, coming up into the outside world for the first time in months. What she noticed first was the smell of cheap booze and old piss assaulting her nose. Next was the three pairs of old beaten up sneakers that spoke to her from above.  
"A sewer rat? What a surprise!"


	15. A Slain Beast

Another bottle crashed against the wall, falling in pieces to the floor. Dais swung yet another jar of his herbs into the wall. Since she left he had been smashing his stuff, trying to vent his anger out on something, anything.  
She called him a monster, something he himself would admit to. For his entire life he knew he was a beast, and Dais had come to terms with it. Yet when she called him exactly what that worm had, something broke. It shattered and fell to the floor in a million irreplaceable pieces. Briar Gantz had broken the man's heart.  
In a rage, Dais flung his other hand out toward his shelves. Books flew threw the air, followed by candle stubs, pens and still more jars. In his rage Dais destroyed, knowing nothing better to with the anger he felt, the hopelessness and loneliness. Never before had Dais felt so lonely. After living in the tunnels by himself for the gods only knew how long, he was used to being alone. Yet, now that he had known companionship, now that Briar had come and gone, he felt it. The suffocating emptiness that was true loneliness. He did not like the sensation. So he trashed his place, sending his stuff and research to the floor.   
To forget her.   
Smash.   
To forget the loneliness.   
Smash.   
To forget everything.   
Smash.   
To forget himself.   
Smash.  
Finding himself amongst the carnage of his once beautiful study, Dais seethed. His chest heaved as his shoulders shook, holding back the dry sobs attempting to rack his body. Briar had left, and now there was only him. Dais closed his eyes in defeat.  
She was never coming back, he would never dance with her again or discuss inane things like the origins of the word “dur”. Briar had broken his heart, as well as his nose and taken the left tunnel out of his life forever. Suddenly he snapped them open. Which direction did she run in? He looked toward the door, and remembered her taking the left tunnel.  
"Oh gods." he whispered, and tore off after her.

***************************** 

One of the thugs screamed as she bit into his arm. The others tore at her clothes, pinning her to the ground as the other two held onto her. Their hands were strong, one of them having found the wound on her side and used it to his advantage. Each time she yelled or bucked to get away he would press his ring finger into the bandage, making her scream and go limp for a few seconds.  
"Get off me you pile of shit!" she screamed, kicking and yelling. The thug who seemed to be the leader, armed with a set of black teeth and a scarred face came forward. With a sadistic chuckle he leaned down near her and that was then she saw the glint. He held the blade to her face, an evil smirk coming across his.  
"Now hush up sweetheart. We don't want to scar that pretty little face." he breathed into her face, and she nearly gagged. There was almost nothing but alcohol on this man's breath, along with the smell of teeth that had gone too long without brushing. Scared shitless, and being held hostage, she did the only thing a girl in the situation could do. She spit in his face.  
This surprised the thug for a moment, and she grinned as he wiped the saliva from his cheek with disgust. It was worth it, even if it earned her a well placed slap. She stared at the ground near the man's feet, mind racing. _Oh shit. What am I supposed to do now? I can't get away from these guys, I can not fight back, and no one will hear me._ With a panic she realized just what these men had in store for her.  
Before giving up and resigning herself to what was about to happen, Briar decided to try one last time. Kicking the tall one holding onto her in the balls, she screamed.  
"HELP!" yet, the scream was cut short by a blow to the head. The tall one let her go, and she crumpled to the cement. Everything became blurry and hard to understand, almost as if she was drunk on some long forgotten drink. Two of the thugs stood over her, their forms swimming in and out of view as she looked at them, watching as the other one came toward her with the knife. Her head was pounding and sound was fading in and out like her brain was suddenly a badly tuned radio only catching snippets of sound.   
Suddenly it was not a thug with a knife before her, it was Adam. Briar felt fury grow in her stomach, working its way to clear her head. Waiting for the perfect moment, she looked up into the face of the man who had stabbed her and left her to die. The armed thug leaned over her, squatting and saying something she did not fully understand. Just as he reached over, she kicked as hard as she could between his legs. Briar Gantz was not going down without the fight of their lives.  
In pain he bent over, as she screamed louder than ever before. "HELP ME!" This time though, the scream was cut out by two other noises. One such noise was the fat thug, pointing frantically and yelling something. The other was a roar.  
After that everything was a blur of motion and violence.  
Suddenly the fat one slammed into the brick wall, slumping into the garbage gathered below. The others looked around, trying to find what had attacked their comrade. Above them the sky crackled and roared. Beneath that, another closer roar could be heard. Something moved in the shadows, grabbing the fat one and dragging him in. Just then the sky broke open.  
Rain drenched the players of this little life or death drama, dampening sound and sight. Briar could see the thugs glancing around, calling for their friend. Her head was beginning to clear and the pain was subsiding slightly. Against her better judgment she also looked about for the fat thug.  
"Thurgood! Where the fuck are ya man?" one of them called. The other, the one so bent on cutting her only seconds before stepped forward, yelling into the darkness. He stepped beside a trashcan, brandishing his knife.  
"What ever the fuck you are, get out here! No one hurts one of my boys and goes away unhurt. Show yourself you fucking coward!" he screamed into the black alley before him. Nothing was heard, then a low growl came from the shadows next to the tall thug standing near Briar.   
"As you wish."   
Before anyone could blink, the tall thug slammed into the wall beside her, just as the other turned around. From the shadows came Dais, a monstrous mass sliding from the darkness and out into the rain and reality. Had Briar not known who it was, she would have screamed. His hands were curled, black claws ready to rip and tear into anyone or anything that came near them. All of his dreadlocks were now hanging from his head, coiling about as he moved, almost as if living snakes. They blocked the view of his face, and for that Briar could not be more happy. Red eyes glowered at the last standing thug, eerily glowing in the dark of the alley. Taking a step back, the thug stopped and thrust the knife in front of himself as if that could protect him from this towering beast walking his way.  
Dais cracked his knuckles, flexing his hand as he growled. "What is a low level hooligan doing bothering women on a night like this? Hnn?" he moved forward slowly, rows of sharp teeth glinting as a lightning strike flew overhead.  
"What the fuck are you?" the last man yelled, the end of his knife wavering in the air. The blade was shaking almost as bad as he was. Dais slipped forward, his feet and hands blending into the night almost as if he was once part of the very shadows themselves. Fear was evident on the thugs face, enlarging his already grotesque features into an almost comical caricature of himself.  
Dais stopped suddenly, and lifted his head to look at the man fully. What Briar saw on his face was indescribable. Mixed into that handsome and horrible face was fear, anger, and a rage that can only be described as murderous. The knife fell to the floor, clattering against the cement as the thug was pulled from the ground. One black claw wrapped around the man's throat, both of his hands clawing desperately at Dais's arm as he squeezed. Drawn to his full height, he growled at the man he now held captive by his neck a few feet in the air.  
"What in the seven hells do you think you are doing to HER?" he took the other claw and scratched the man on the side of the face. "Huh? Answer ME!"  
A dark spot on the mans already soaked jeans grew darker as he lost control of his bladder. Briar sat up, looking at the terrified man and to Dais.  
"Let him go." she whispered. Dais did not hear her, so she spoke louder. "I said to let him go Dais." She got to her feet, and limped over. "Let him go. He learned his lesson, let him go."  
Dais looked at her, then looked back. A small whine escaped his throat, and he loosened his grip slightly. The thug breathed in, gulping the air that had been cut off from him for so long. He began to curse them in anyway he could. Looking down at Briar he spit at her.  
"You little bitch, wait until tall dark and gruesome here puts me down. I am going to ride tha...." he choked as Dais closed his fist, once more shutting off the man's air supply. Growling Dais stared at the man. The free claw came up to the mans torso, rearing back to disembowel the man when something touched his arm.


	16. Twas Beauty

"That's enough. Dais, let go." Briar laid one hand on his arm. The growl in his throat died, and after staring at him with a look of deepest loathing, he dropped the man directly to the ground. Turning, he put one hand on the side of Briar's face.  
"Your hurt." his voice cracked with unchecked emotion. Briar looked down and saw that the blood running off her side was red, as well as any washing off her head.  
"The wound must have reopened." she looked down, calmly noticing that she was once again bleeding from the wound she had gotten months ago. Dais looked at her, the strangest glint in his eyes magnified as the rain continued to pummel them. He bent to her, lips just a centimeter away from hers. Long black claws gently brushing the wet hair plastered to her forehead. Briar smiled. This man, who could disembowel, rip and tear anything that got in his way, treated her so gently one would never know he was meant to do any of those things. Dais treated her like his books, the one thing he admitted was precocious to him. For the moment, the scene in the tunnels disappeared from their memories.  
She leaned forward, trying to steal a touch from his lips. Briar was so close, the feeling of warmth from his lips so close she could almost taste the heat from it. She was interrupted by Dais as he reared his head in a roar. Eyes widening, she looked at Dais is fear, following his eyes as he turned toward his attacker. The thug Dais had let go of a minute before was now standing on his feet unsteadily. His face was bleeding from one side, and he stuttered as he talked.  
"Th there y you you go. You y you fr fr freak!" he stumbled off into the shadows, just as his buddies scrambled after them. Each one licking his wounds as they ran off, tails tucked between their legs. Reaching one hand out after them Dais roared again, yet this time it had no substance. He was feeling weak.  
Briar called to him, seeing him wobble on unsteady feet. "Are you OK..." She was caught off guard as he fell backwards into her. Crashing to the ground under his weight, Briar tried to land softly. Instead she hit the ground hard, and Dais slid onto the alley's cement. He moaned slightly, the only sign he was still alive. Briar crawled forward, trying to get to him. That was when she saw the knife.  
Attempting to kill Dais as a last resort, the thug had shoved the knife into his kidney on the left side. Briar gasped, looking at what she knew was almost always a near fatal blow.  
"DAIS!" she screamed, stopping at his side. All of his clothes were soaked, as he lay fully open to the rain now pouring on them. She shook him, trying to wake him up. "Dais get up! Come on, get UP!"  
About to give up, he groaned. Opening one red eye, he looked over at her.  
"Briar?" he called, surprised to see her still at his side. "Why did you stay? They are going to leave you alone. You can leave."  
" I can't leave you here Dais. I just can't." she smoothed a dread that lay haphazardly across his face.  
Dais looked down, lifting his neck to see what had happened. Smiling weakly, he sat his head back against the concrete. "Of course." he chuckled sadly. "The beast is always slain by the knife."  
Briar shushed him, telling him to conserve his strength, but he did not listen. "Briar, go. You were right. Adam was right. I was being a monster, but it is the only thing I know how to be."  
"Hush! You are the least monstrous person I know Dais. Adam was not right, he was wrong. Now hold on, I am going to find you a doctor." she stood, and ran to the alley's entrance. There in the distance was a glowing sign. She had seen it months before, when she had first entered the tunnels with Adam.  
Recom Tech. It looked scientific, so she thought that it may help her..them. She hurried back to Dais,calling to his still form.  
"DAIS! Are you still with me?" She fell to his side, looking to see if she could carry him to the building. Grabbing his arm, she pulled him up.  
"Stop it." the whisper almost went unnoticed as she pulled him forward.  
"Dais, you are awake?" she placed his arm over her shoulder, hooking her other arm around his side.  
"Briar. Stop it. Leave me here." he had his head turned from her, eyes locked on something distant.  
"Why should I?" she joked, trying to lighten the mood  
"Because, I WANT to die."


	17. Everything will be Alright

The sky had grown dark as the rain kept pouring, and the world outside was dim and gray as Silvia Bluue checked out of the lobby. After fifteen hours of work, she was ready to call it a night and go home. Saying goodnight to Larry, the night security guard for the last fifteen years, she stepped out into the downpour.  
Sighing to herself, she pulled her beige trench coat tighter to her slender form. One aged hand instinctively brushed a stray lock of her short red hair back from her forehead. Her loft was halfway across town, and with her luck she would be waiting in this storm for a long time trying to hail a cab. “I just bought these heels to..” one foot tapped the ground as she wondered whether or not it was worth it. Walking forward, her heels splashing as she moved toward the main street, Bluue contemplated staying overnight in her office. “It does have a large couch, and I could always just get up early and run home.” the older woman mused to herself. Deep in thought, she almost missed the sound of a young woman calling for help.  
In the gloom of the gray rain, a voice called out. Bluue stopped, turning to the source of the cry. Coming toward her, two figures limped through the rain. One was bent, seemingly holding the other as they dragged them through the street. Bluue called out to them, hoping they were not in some sort of trouble.  
"We're closed." she turned to get on her way, but stopped as the figure carrying the other called back.  
"Help us!Please! My friend is hurt!" As they got closer, Bluue began to see that it was a young woman with someone slung over her shoulder. He was larger than her by a fair amount, and she was hunching because of his weight. From the way he was slumped against her Bluue knew that he was unconscious, so finally she rushed forward to help. Dropping her umbrella, she ran over as fast as she could manage in her new heels. Once there, slightly wet from the rain that now only drizzled over the landscape, she grabbed the young man from the girl's shoulders.  
"Oh thank god." she slid to the ground beside her friend, out of breath and crying. Soaked to the bone, the young woman pushed her hair from her face, trying to reign in the dripping strands."I tried to keep him awake, to get him to talk to me so he would not pass out and die. For awhile he kept talking, then he just stopped." the girl told her, eyes red with tears.   
From the look of them, they were both injured. The young man Bluue now held was bleeding from a large wound on his side, skin pale, and his chest was barely moving from what she could see. His friend was in a little better shape, but she too was far from ok. The rain that fell from her body was tinted pink by blood, and the torn shirt she had clinging to her form was stained with blood and dirt. Bluue could not tell if this was hers or her friends. Seeping from her side was a small stream of blood. Both of them needed medical attention, and Bluue knew then that she would not be heading home for the night.   
Calling on her long buried maternal instincts, Bluue patted the girls arm. “What is your name honey?” At first the girl did not respond, instead grasping the hand of her friend tightly, trying to wake him up. Again Bluue repeated herself, “Honey, what is your name. I need to know your name.”   
This got her attention. “It's..... It's Briar. My name is Briar Gantz.” One shaking hand pointed to the boy. “His name is Dais DeBeaumont. Please.” Briar looked up at her with red rimmed eyes.”Please help us.”  
"Do not worry sweetheart. Everything is going to be fine.” Bluue cooed to Briar. Her office was not that far from where they stood, and she was beginning to get cold from the rain that had begun to soak through her jacket and into her clothes underneath. “My office is just in that building over there. We are a medical facility, so you can both get help there.”  
Taking the boy in her arms, and setting him flat on the ground, Bluue reached for her cellphone. Quickly she punched in the numbers for the company's front desk. Larry picked up, as was customary.  
“Hello. Recom Technologies. We are closed at this time, but we can take care of your call during regular business hours.” his voice droned, having said this almost every night for fifteen years.   
“Larry!” Bluue half yelled, trying to keep the phone from getting wet. “Larry, I need you to open the doors for me.”  
“Ms. Bluue?”   
“Yes, it's Bluue Larry. Now open those doors, and check if there are any interns working tonight!” she looked over at her new patients, watching for just a moment as Briar leaned over her friend, holding him to her as if her life depended on him. From the color of his skin, Bluue had a bad feeling that he was not going to make it. He was snow white for god's sake!  
“There are six interns working tonight, ma am.” Larry told her, probably checking the list next to the door. Over the phone she heard a loud click, meaning the deadbolt was now disengaged.  
“Good. Buzz all of them and tell them I need an OR and a patient room cleared. Bring a gurney and a wheelchair to the front of the building immediately. Leave the wheelchair inside the door, but bring the gurney out. I am just across the street, and I have two people in need of medical attention. Do you have all that Larry?”   
After hearing him confirm her orders, she clicked off the phone and looked back down at her patients. It had been over a decade since she had been a clinical doctor, and much longer than that since she had worked on an injured patient. Yet, she knew that the boy would not make it if she did not do something while they waited.  
Coming up next to Briar, Bluue squatted down to the ground. “Let's see what the problem is." With that, she finally looked at the boy in his entirety, and her entire world crumbled at the sight of him.


	18. Lost Boy

A loud gasp called Briar's attention, causing her to look up from holding Dais's hand. The woman who was helping them was now squatting on her knees, hand over her mouth. A look Briar could not place was now set on her face, eyes wide. Briar assumed it was the state of the wound that had this woman so perplexed, having forgotten his appearance in the heat of the moment.  
"I kept the knife in, so that maybe he could be saved. I know these things are usually fatal, but I needed to get him help." She rambled on trying to stifle the nervous tears that were forming. When the woman did not answer, Briar assumed the worst.  
Clasping her hand to her mouth to stifle a sob, she cried out to the woman. "He's not going to die right? I mean, he is still breathing so that means something, right?" Briar could not keep the sound of her anguish seep through into her cry, fearing that she was going to lose her friend.  
The woman looked up, her eyes shielded. She did not utter a word to Briar, but her lips moved silently. Suddenly she looked up at Briar, her eyes shut as she smiled. "Of course sweet heart. Everything is fine now. I will be right back." she stood to leave, brushing her skirt pants off as she did so.   
“Wait!” Briar called, using her free hand to grasp at the woman's wrist. “What is your name?”  
With a smile, she cooed; “Silvia Bluue. I will be your doctor for the evening.” At this, she stood up and strode back into the building. Briar was left outside in the rain with the now comatose Dais.  
"It's okay." she smoothed the hair back from his pale forehead. "Everything is going to be okay now.”  
***************************** 

The stretcher rolled through the double doors at the front of Recom Tech. Two interns hauled it into the lobby, Dais strapped tight to the bed. His head was supported by a pillow, and his clawed feet stretched over the bottom of the bed, his stature being to large for the gurney to accommodate. Beside him strode Bluue and Briar, the latter holding one clawed hand as he was wheeled toward a far door. Almost running to keep up with the interns speed, Briar kept telling Dais that everything was going to be ok. Even with her side killing her and the headache that kept coming and going Briar did not want to let go of Dais's hand. Both doors swung open, being held by two more interns ready to admit Dais and the stretcher. She readied herself to follow him but Briar was pulled to the side at the last second as they swung the doors shut.  
The older woman, who had identified herself as Silvia Bluue moments before, grabbed a hold of Briar's arm. Running one hand through the younger woman's hair, she cooed. "Don't worry dear. Your friend is now in the best care one can buy. Everything is alright now." Pulling back a hand covered in blood, she spun Briar around and marched her to another far door. "Now let's get that head of yours stitched up."  
*****************************   
Warmth. For the second time in a few months, Briar found herself somewhere strange and warm. Sitting up, she felt groggy, and there was a bad taste in her mouth. Eye's still shut, she called out.  
"Dais? What's for eats?" he did not answer her, and waited a few moments before calling out to him once more. Again he did not answer. This jerked her from that dreamlike state between worlds of sleep and waking. Both eyes snapped open, taking in the hospital room in which she now found herself. A TV sat on a plain wooden dresser, the screen blank and reflective. White walls matched the white tiled floor, added to only by the stench of antiseptic chemicals. It was then she remembered.  
Dais had been stabbed, and she had gotten help. Once there, he was taken for surgery or something of the like, and Bluue had taken her upstairs to this room and stitched up both wounds on her body. Briar could feel the bandage rubbing against the stitches on her side.  
_"My my. This wound seems like it was once very deep. Yet it seems to have healed mostly all the way up." Bluue had remarked while sewing the stab wound on her side. "How in the world did you heal this wound without any prior medical attention?"  
Briar had tried to explain, but the coffee they had given her made her feel very tired. “Dais used some of his medicines on it. He would rub it into the wound everyday.” Eyelids drooping, she heard Bluue chuckle.  
"Such nonsense." _  
Now she was awake, and wanted nothing more than to see how Dais was doing. Well, her stomach argued, that and get something to eat. Cracking the door opened she stepped into the hallway outside her room. It was white as well, and the smell of antiseptics was twice as bad out there. For a few minutes she walked around, opening every door like hers to find Dais. He was not there.  
Deciding to try another floor, Briar found the elevators. Pushing the button she only had to wait a few moments before the light signaled that it had reached her floor. The elevator's door opened without a sound. Briar stepped in, her hip and waist bandaged tightly, as well as part of her head. From the small glimpse she had gotten of herself in the TV in her room, she looked terrible.  
In the elevator there were already three orderlies talking about work related stuff. One had a clipboard with names on it.  
Deciding that she should ask before barging into Bluue's office on the sixth floor, Briar turned to the young Asian man holding the clipboard.  
"Excuse me sir? Do you know where I can find someone that was brought in here last night?" When the man just looked at her, saying nothing, she tried to explain. "He had the knife in his left side. Ms. Bluue brought him in."  
"No one like that has been brought in. Can I have your name please?” Briar gave him her name, and the man looked at his clipboard momentarily, then looked at her. "Sorry. You were brought in by yourself it seems."


	19. Spider and Snake

Sitting in her office, Bluue was pouring over the newest developments in her new project. His specs were amazing, the altered DNA never unraveled, and he seemed in perfect health. Having gotten the wound stitched up, and the bleeding stopped, she had sent him in for testing. Having never gotten home, Bluue had stayed up all night looking over every last bit if information they had attained.  
"Four extra ribs." She smiled. "That would explain his elongated spine and torso. Hollow bones, just like a bird. Oh! Explains his weight, and his movements! " Quickly, she scribbled a small side note on the piece of paper, probably to remind herself to do another set of tests later. “Thank the heavens for Lazarus or we would have already lost him.” she grinned to herself.  
Just as she turned the page, she heard a commotion outside her office. Georgia, her secretary was trying to get some one to leave, but was having no such luck. A moment later both doors swung open, and Briar stood before her. Looking ready to kill, she stormed in and walked right up to the desk. Briar slammed the clipboard she had ripped from the young man in the elevators hands onto the table in front of Bluue.  
Looking up, mildly surprised, Bluue greeted the angry girl. "How are you feeling Briar?"  
"How am I feeling? Well, ma' am, I feel just fine." she plopped herself into the seat across from Bluue. "I woke up this morning though and one of your people told me something very interesting."  
"And what would that be my dear?" Setting herself into the bureaucratic Silvia Bluue that had worked her way to the top of the ladder, she acted as if she knew nothing of Briar's plight.  
Briar said nothing, only set herself closer to the edge of her seat. Suddenly her fist hit the table very near Bluue's notes. "This is the problem! My friends name is nowhere on here! The man told me I came in here by myself!"  
"Must be a mistake darling." Bluue picked up the clipboard, and leafed through the pages. "Mmmmm. What did you say your friends name was?"  
"Dais."  
"Dais......? What is his last name?"  
"De Beaumont." Briar looked down for a moment. "At least that is the one he gave me."  
Bluue nodded, looking at the chart but not seeing it. Maybe she should let the girl in on the experiment. After all, she was retiring in a few months. No need to play by the rules anymore, not that she had ever really played by the rules.   
"Where did you meet him? If I may ask." Putting down the clipboard, she looked at her over her small frame less glasses.  
Briar swallowed. What was this woman's interest in Dais, and how could she tell her that she had met him in the sewer beneath the city? People didn't even believe that crocodiles lived in the sewers, how could she convince this older woman that a six foot and some odd inches tall creature had lived, no thrived, beneath the streets? That he was something unexplainable, and yet something so kind? Settling herself to tell the truth, she looked over at Bluue.  
"He was living in a sewer not too far from here."  
As the girl contemplated her answer, Bluue had busied herself flipping through the papers on the clipboard, pretending to be looking for something, anything to make her look as if she was going to be of some service to Briar. At the word sewer, she started. A sewer not to far from where she was sitting? A memory flashed into her head.  
_She stared at the semi-transparent goo settling around the growing fetus. A glass tube attached to the ceiling, allowing the fetus to grow larger and larger till it hit full term. Beside her stood a young aloof, bored looking couple. The woman had bleach blonde hair, and a permanent look of disapproval on her pointed face. Her husband kept looking at his watch, then staring at her, his blue eyes peering over his large upturned nose.  
“How long is this going to take?” he asked, voice drawling on in a most rude manner.   
“Not much longer sir.” she noted mentally to herself to never deal with these people personally again. “Just a few things to cover.”  
“Hurry it up, will you?” the woman whined, her voice nasily and peircing. “ I have got a hair appointment with Georgio in an hour, and if I don't make it I will have to wait six months to book him again..”  
Bluue rolled her eyes, slightly, looking over at the tube once more to hide the fact. “Everything came back fine. The donor egg took well, and your fetus is perfectly healthy. Just one little notation to mention..”  
“Notation?” the woman asked, staring at Bluue like she was something beneath her shoe.  
“Yes. The child's DNA shows that he will be born an Albino. This means his skin will have no pigmentation.. Of course, this is nothing too serious, and the child will live a completely normal life. Now about the payments for the fe..”  
“Hold on!” The woman's sharp snarl cut through the air. “An Albino?!”  
“Yes.” Bluue plastered on a smile. “But that is only a small problem.”  
“No. No it's not. That is a HUGE problem.” she dragged out the U sound to emphasize how much of a problem she really thought it was going to be. “Howard, I do not want an albino freak for a baby! What will the neighbors think?”  
“We want to cancel our contract here. There is no way we will take a disfigured baby.” Howard spoke up, not even blinking as he dismissed his child's life.  
“We would have to buy new furniture to match his skin and everything.” the woman pouted. “So kill it or what ever it is you guys do to such...things.”  
“But, but but!” Bluue was speechless. The gull of these people! From behind her she heard the quiet sob of one of the scientists. She knew the voice well, it was the woman who had donated her egg to this couple who had seemed to so want a child of their own.   
“No buts, Pookie said she no longer wants the thing, so I will not pay a red cent for it. Get rid of it.” Howard spoke harsher, his wife looking at him with a sneer on her face. Both of them turned to walk away, when Bluue called out.  
“Wait!” They stopped and looked back at her, annoyance written across their faces. “If you are not going to use the bab...the fetus,” she corrected herself . “ then we could use it in a certain project this company is working on.”  
For a moment, neither of them spoke, then Howard turned around, sighing. “Fine, whatever, do what you will with the damn thing.” Bluue quickly flipped the clipboard to one of the pages she had been working on earlier.   
“Sign here sir.” He put down his John Hancock, and turned, slipping his arm into the crook of Pookie's arm.   
She smiled, it seeming almost reptilian to Bluue. “It is no longer our problem.” With that they both walked off, Pookie could be heard in the distance. “Howard, how about we adopt a nice oriental child? I hear those are in fashion now.” She chuckled, and the rest of their sadistic conversation was cut off as the door slammed behind them.   
Bluue stared at the space where the couple had just stood. Slowly, she turned to the tube. “I am so sorry. It would have been cruel to give them to you. I didn't want you to be in this program, but if I didn't do something, then you would have been eliminated. At least this way you have a fighting chance.” She put her hand against the tube, staring at the fetus, and a large sense of purpose hit her. “I am so sorry 5434685623465. I am so sorry.” She turned from the tube, and shuffled her papers, trying not to cry.   
Months later, the fetus had been moved to the lab handling the special project. After all of the genetic experiments and alterations it went under, it was the only one left. All the other fetus's had died, not being able to withstand the experimentations. He stood alone, now past full term, and going into his first year outside the fake womb of the goo. All of the experiments had worked, and Bluue was both proud and saddened. She had saved the baby from death, but had perhaps damned him to something worse.   
That was until one night, the alarm went off. Bluue was in her office at the time, going over paperwork. She had just been promoted, and was just getting used to her position. Being in the vicinity of the crime, Bluue got there first.   
A mess greeted her. The glass room in which they kept the infant was smashed, the baby missing from inside. Panic filled Bluue, and she looked about for the child. Small drips of blood caught her attention, as they led across the floor and into the hallway. Rushing forward, she slammed through the doors. A cry met her ears, child like, but still oddly non-human. Someone tried to hush the child, and Bluue's head snapped to the sound. There in the distance a figure hobbled around a corner. As quickly as she could she rushed off after the figure. She skidded around the corner, just catching sight of the figure getting into the elevator. A scared face stared at her, tear stained. From the woman's arms stared a set of blood red pupil-less eyes.   
Briar called out, just as the door shut. The elevator hummed, sending the woman and the baby to the ground floor. She slammed her way into the staircase, running up the stairs as fast as she could. Flinging her heels into the air, she ran in her stockinged feet, trying to catch the woman.  
Bluue's heart beat a war drum in her chest. She knew that face. It was the tear stained, fear pinched face of Genevieve Robenson. The woman who had donated the very egg to the soulless parents of the child now in her arms. God only knew what she was going to do with the child.   
Reaching to the top of the stair case, Bluue got there in time for the elevator doors to slide open. Genevieve made a dash for the door, just as Bluue did. With a shove, Genevieve reached the door first, giving Bluue a glance before heading out into the rain soaked night. Bluue gave chase, trying to get to the child. She chased her across the street, rain soaking into every inch of her body. Still she kept running, just staying in sight of her target.   
Turning into the alley, she came face to face with Genevieve. There she stood, the child in her arms, staring at Bluue, unblinking. Oh, how those eyes could peirce the soul Bluue tore her eyes from his face, to hers.   
“Give him back.” she stated, breathing hard.  
“No.” Genevieve's voice quivered. She clutched the child tighter.  
Seeing the look of determination on the woman's face, Bluue launched forward, trying to take the child from her arms.  
Both of them wrestled in the rain, each trying desperately to get a hold of the precious child. They moved across the street, each one slipping and falling only to get back up time and time again. Finally, with a well placed kick at Genevieve's shin, Bluue fully yanked the child from her grasp. Staggering back a little, Bluue turned to race back to Recom Tech. Shoes long gone in the storm, she ran barefoot down the alley, watching as the light from the building grew larger and larger. Almost there, she passed a large man hole open to the air, water rushing into its black abyss. Suddenly, something hit her from behind. Her entire body jerked forward, unable to correct itself on the slick concrete of the alley.  
Almost in slow motion, Bluue felt herself fall to the ground. Her leg gave away, then her whole body crashed. As she slid to the wet concrete, the child flew from her arms. With a strangled cry, he slid across the ground, pushed by the small torrent of water and straight into the open sewer grate. With a wet plop, the child disappeared from both of their sights.   
With a strangled scream, both women scrambled over the sewer grate. Nothing but inky swirling blackness met their eyes. Bluue called out, begging for the child to reappear. Yet, there was nothing except the sound of moving water. There she lay against the wet cement, hand stretched into the dark of the tunnels in vain, rain dripping from her hair and tears from her eyes. _  
Genevieve was arrested shortly after, still sobbing about losing her child. Bluue looked over her shoulder to the grate one more time, pulling the blanket she had been given closer to her body. With a stifled sob, she said a silent goodbye to the child.  
Snapping out of her reverie, suddenly she spun around, and launched herself at a file cabinet behind her. Pulling out a large roll of blue paper, she laid it out on the ground.  
Briar looked over at the elder woman sitting on her knees pouring over a large blue print. Lines connected all over the place, making a large labyrinth of pipes and tunnels. She knew what it was instantly. The large paper was a blue print of the old sewer pipes.  
"That must be it." Bluue clapped her hands together, for the moment forgetting that Briar was sitting next to her. "They shut down that section of the sewer about fifty years ago. The new system runs beneath it now. So that's what happened that night, he must have gotten away from the current, that's where he has been!" She stood, rushing off to her desk.  
Grabbing her papers, she turned to Briar, and smiled eerily at her.  
"Did you want to see your friend?" Something in her voice made Briar shiver, then she swallowed the lump in her throat.  
"Yes. Oh god yes." She nodded slightly, letting herself be pulled from the chair by Bluue's strong hands.  
"Well then sweetheart, you are going to have to follow me then." together they headed out toward the doors at the end of her office. " There are a few things I have to tell you about your friend."


	20. God Made Man

Briar stared at the room crowded with beeping and clicking machines. People with white lab coats crowded amongst the machines reading out the data being relayed to them. Some milled around talking, as others glanced at them as they burst in.  
Looking over her glasses, Bluue waved one hand in the air. "Get out!" At this everyone silently got up and shuffled off toward the only other door. Some groaned silently to themselves, as others remembered the large sums of money they were paid because of the silence clause in their contracts. After the door swung shut on the last scientist, Bluue pulled Briar, none to gently, over to the back wall. Across it hung the largest mirror Briar had ever laid her eyes on. It went from floor to ceiling, and reflected everything in the room back at her, making her slightly dizzy.   
"That is the biggest fucking mirror I have ever seen." Briar commented, eyes wide as she took in the sheer size of the piece of glass before her.   
Blue eyes staring at her over two half oval glasses, Bluue grinned at her. " Oh honey. You haven't seen a thing yet." Pushing a button on the wall next to her, she spun slightly on her heels. Moving her hand with a slight flourish. "Tada."  
The mirror glowed red for but a moment, then stopped. Nothing happened for another moment, then the reflective surface of the mirror disappeared. Instead the mirror became glass, revealing a room behind it. Monitors made a strange red glow in the room, casting the lone figure in the room in shadow.  
"Who is in there?" Briar asked, turning to face Bluue. The older woman did not respond, only looked over at the room behind the glass. "Bluue who is in the room?"  
Still no answer came from the older woman. Briar stepped closer to the older woman, demanding now that she get an answer. Hand balled into a fist, she grabbed onto the collar of her coat. "Bluue! Who the hell is in that fucking room?"  
"Experiment number 5434685623465. Age 20 years and seven months. DNA recombination sequence is stable." she chuckled slightly. "It is actually stable. I can not believe it."  
Briar looked at the older woman in fear. What in the hell was she talking about like that? What was stable, and who was behind the glass? "What in the hell are you talking about?"  
"Do you know anything about weapons contracts Briar?" Bluue continued to stare out over her head toward the glass room.  
"No. Not really."  
"That's good." a small smile spread over her face. "Better that way." silence came over them for a moment, as Briar waited for her to continue her sentence. " Recombinant DNA has not been around long. Only in the last thirty years has it begun to gain any scientific use. In 1984 this company got a contract from, lets say one of the many governing bodies that makes this world spin. About that time we were planning on getting ourselves into a small war on some foreign front. One of these bodies saw our research in the science of recombinant DNA, and contracted us to make them a superior solider."  
" After twelve years, failure after failure, we finally reached the perfect specimen. Experiment 5434685623465 was our greatest success. He was born with claws to tear his victims, eyes red to scare the living hell out of any target that got in the way of its objective. A body built specifically to attain a maximum speed of 70 mph, and able to do acrobatic and contortionist acts in any battle situation. His bones are hollow to allow ease of movement and keep his frame light to leave little too no trace of his presence. In a few words. The perfect war machine. He was programmed to kill and maim. To fulfill complex strategic plans on the battlefield and to survive in any situation thrown at him. There was just one small glitch. He was an albino. Something about that one trait set him apart from all the other fetus's. He was destined to become to super solider we spent so many years and so much money trying to bring to life."  
Taking a moment from her speech, Bluue pushed another button on the panel near the glass rooms edge. Lights flickered inside the room, flashing slightly before they slowly warmed up to their full brightness. Briar gasped, looking at the sight before her. Nothing adorned the glass room except for a large mobile computer unit, and a set of odd shackles now holding someone prisoner against their will. It was who was in the shackles that concerned Briar. Slumped against the shackles, his head hanging free, Dais was spread almost crucifixion style against the wall before her.  
"Oh my god Dais! What have they done to you?" Briar rushed forward only to be held back by Bluue's strong grip.


	21. Made made the Monsters

Beeping. Dais could hear beeping all around him, making a mechanical symphony for the ages. It was very distracting, especially since his head was pounding away its own version of the cursed song. He moved his arm, trying to stretch the muscles that were cramping up. Neither arm nor hand moved, which was very alarming. Looking over, he saw that his arm from the elbow down was encased in some sort of cylindrical cuff. He hung down slightly, his legs stuffed into a larger version of what held his arms, both arms pulled from his sides.   
Faking sleep, he looked at his prison through his eyelashes. The glass was tinted slightly, and seemed to be placed in a large corner of the lab in which he was being held. Below him stood two people, an older woman and a young girl. Head swirling with whatever drug they had used to put him out, Dais felt he knew the young woman but just could not place her. The older woman walked by, and Dais recognized her. Short red hair cut to her head, blue eyes sitting under half rounded glasses, it somehow struck a cord with Dais as he stared at her. This woman was someone he knew from long ago. Maybe another lifetime, yet it was still there. He knew her. A flash ran through his mind from some long forgotten memory. A face, younger then, less aged and more caring, eyes staring at him as steel doors closed in front of him. Then a shaking arm clutching him tight, whispering to him.   
The pain hit fast and hard, knocking the wind from his chest. Another flash came into his mind. Needles, so many needles in his skin, poking and sending burning liquid into his veins. The pain was so real he screamed out, hoping it would go away. It did, only to be replaced by the sensation of Deja'vu.  
He knew this place, and he knew it well. This was his own personal hell.


	22. Monsters are but Men

A small scream came from Dais's seemingly unconscious form, scaring Briar as she tried to pull herself from Bluue's grasp. She wriggled, trying to free her arm but to no avail. The older woman had Briar locked firmly within her grasp.  
"Let me go!" she screamed, tearing at the hand that held her arm so tightly. "He's hurt! Let me go!"  
Bluue looked down at Briar, a cold and quizzical look in her blue eyes. "Calm yourself my dear. The Experiment is fine, his wounds have been treated and his tests came back clean."  
At this Briar stopped her futile struggle for but a moment. "What does that mean?"  
"It means my dear, that all of his results came back negative. There has been no erosion of the bones, no unraveling of his patchwork DNA. He has become the perfect war machine. Here we hold the secret to make more and more just like him! It means the method used to create him works, and shall be implemented to create others like himself."  
Staring at Bluue as if she was mad, Briar stepped back as far as she could go, trying to put some distance between herself and the crazy woman. " Others like him? What happens to him?"  
Looking at her with no emotion, Bluue bluntly tossed the fate of Briar's friend into the air. "He will be destroyed. As of now, he is obsolete, and a new better version will be constructed using the method he was crafted from." Shocked at the look of terror on Briar's face, Bluue looked at her with a slight frown. “What? Do you think I am happy about this? After all the years I spent trying to find him, all the work I helped put into making what he is today?! Well I am not! Once, along time ago I held a soft spot for this creature, but that was long ago and a different Sylvia Bluue.”   
They stood, Briar's eyes wide as she stared at the woman before her. How could she say something like that so calmly?  
"You helped create him?" she choked out, glancing at Dais's slumped form.  
"I was an intern at the time, but yes. I did help create him." she smiled, clapping her hands together. "You are so lucky my dear."  
"Why is that?" Briar could barely keep her voice from trembling with anger.  
"Had you stayed with him much longer you may have been maimed or worse." Briar glared at her, eyes narrowing at those words.  
"What do you mean by that ma' am?" she spit the final words. They seemed to leave a damnable taste in Briar's mouth.  
"I mean who knows how long it would have been until he tore you too pieces. It was just a matter of time." Bluue ignored Briar's venomous tone. "Those claws were designed specifically to snap bone and tear muscle."  
The snap of skin bouncing off skin resounded around the room. Bluue's head snapped sideways from the force of the impact. Eyes watering slightly, she stared at the young woman before her.  
"How dare you!" the words flew from Briar's mouth before she could check herself. "How dare you say such awful things about him! You don't even know Dais, yet you judge him to be some...some monster you can brush off to be a piece of trash beneath your boot! He... he is a poet and a scholar! This man pulled me from the depths of death twice now, and here you are telling me if was only a matter of time before HE killed ME? He had more than once chance, god dammit. There were hundreds of times he could have killed me, and two times he could have just let me die! Yet he put himself in harms way and rescued me! What monster could do that?"  
Hot tears leaked from her eyes once more, as she yelled at the stunned woman before her. How could these..these people not know? How could they not see what a kind man he was, what a gentle soul he had trapped in a body built for chaos? How could they not see?  
Chapter Twenty Three Angel of Death  
Destroyed. The word rang like a bell in Dais's head. Normally such a word used about his well being would cause a disturbance in ones mind, yet today was not the case for poor Dais. Yes that word struck some self preservation nerve in his body, and yes his body flexed once or twice to see if the bonds that held him were breakable. It was not that word that caused Dais's head to ring. It was many words, the words used by the older woman to describe his very presence.  
War machine.  
Dais looked up slightly, his fuzzy mind still replaying those two words in his head. War machine, war machine, war machine, war machine, WAR MACHINE! It bounced from one end of his skull to the other, chasing a phantom rabbit around his brain. He was a war machine, designed for the singular purpose of killing. Dais now knew what he was, and he did not like it one bit. An instrument of destruction, and angel of death as it were.  
"Briar." he called out to the young woman standing just below him. She was facing the other way, saying something that had the rapt attention of the older woman. "Help me." Dais whispered, knowing it would never pass the glass hiding him from sight. "Kill me now please." There was no reaction, just as the logical side of his brain had thought it would. Yet he closed his eyes, hoping that this would all fade. Fade to nothing, and let him rest peacefully for once.


	23. Heart Strings

Bluue stared at the young woman before her, rage showing in the deep red blush that now covered half her face. "Know him? How do you expect me to know something that has no sense of his own exsistence?" One arm swung outward to point to the still slumped Dais.  
"The damned thing isn't even aware that he lives on this planet with other beings! No level of thinking is occurring beyond that of survival! He is a thing, a mechanical thing of flesh and blood. He is a table with the ability to kill you in a heartbeat! Yet you named him, and personified him, making something that DOES NOT EVEN EXSIST!" These last words were aimed at Briar, Bluue's face only inches from hers.  
Glaring into the woman's eyes, Briar saw that she would never believe her. There was no amount of yelling or pleading that would make her see things for the way they truly were. That left one option, to give her undeniable proof.  
"I'll show you." Steel set into her voice as she stared the older woman down.  
"You'll what?" Bluue burst out laughing, tears forming in her eyes. Wiping them with one hand, she looked at Briar still snickering."How do you expect to show me?"  
"You are going to let me into that case with him." Again she was met by laughter.  
"And why would I do that? Hn?" Bluue grinned slightly.  
To her surprise, a small grin passed Briar's lips. "What?" Bluue stopped laughing, intrigued by what this young woman had up her sleeve.   
"It was a fluke." Briar stated simply. " If he can speak, if he can show any sign of above average intelligence, then your master set of DNA has a flaw in it. Don't you want to see if this plan is as perfect as you thought it was, or am I wrong?"  
Staring at the ballsy young woman smirking triumphantly in front of her, Bluue knew she had been had. If he could talk, could think on his own, then they had damned a sentient soul to a cursed life. If not, then she could patent the specific DNA sequences that morphed him in the fetal stage, and get a larger bonus to retire on.  
"Hmm...I am going to retire in a few months. Probably less than a year from now. With a grant the size of what they will pay for his genetic structure, well I could retire in France and never have a worry. But," she bit her lip slightly. "If he is sentient, then I can not sell them his information as it is flawed."  
She thought on it another moment, chewing her lip slightly with her bottom teeth. "I have been looking for him for almost nineteen years now." Briar pretended to ignore her, staring at Dais through the glass. "After about ninteen months his egg donor, who worked here at the time, saw what her embryo had been exposed too. One night she snuck in and stole him from his holding room." Bluue looked off into space, almost as if she was nostolgic for such a time. "She was caught outside the building. There was a..." She paused, remembering that night. "confrontation, and the child was lost. The woman was prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and is serving the rest of her life in a small cell in some woman's prison not to far from here." She remained silent for a time, then answered so quickly Briar barely caught it as it whizzed past her head.  
"Okay." she glanced at Briar, then drawing her full attention to the figure splayed against the wall. "You have five minutes. He says something intelligible, I shall let you leave." Bluue closed her eyes, sighing. "Hell, I will even take you out of here. But if he does not talk, then I shut the door to this lab, and let the clean up crew do their work. You go to the surface and will never speak a word of this to anyone, under the threat of death. Understood?"  
Briar's arms fell to her sides, coming undone from the crossed position they were in. "Thank you. Five minutes." she repeated the time to herself. Stepping back, heels clicking against the floor, Bluue pushed a button on the panel near a large monitor running numbers in some sort of sequence. A crack appeared, and the mirror split into two , allowing Briar access.  
Dais hung slumped from the wall, strong shoulders tense as his body weight pulled against him. Hoping she could wake him, Briar got on her toes, and placing two hands on Dais's head, lifted his face to hers. It startled her slightly to see those red orbs already open. How long had he been listening to their conversation? From the look of misery on his face, it had been a long time into the argument.  
"Dais?" she cooed, whispering into his ear. "Please. I can get us out of here, I just need a word or two from you. Say something."  
He did not utter a word, only glanced at her once, then looked off. It was as if he was not looking at anything on this plane of existence, but instead on some far off point in his mind. Dais had shut down.  
Both hands running along his face, she tried to soothe him. Briar fiddled with his dreadlocks, smoothing them away from his face. "Please Dais." she cooed, trying to call him back to her. "One word. Just one. Something, anything to get her to let you go."  
Still no response. Risking a glance over at Bluue, Briar saw the older woman pursing her lips. A finger hovered over the button to shut the mirror once again. Time was running out.  
“Dais..” she called, one hand resting on his pale and shallow cheek. “Dais..please.” Slowly, she moved her hand along his jawline, touch as light as a lover's, calling to him. “Dais.” Briar's eyes watered. They were going to kill him if he did not respond, going to rip the life right out of him. Yet, it seemed as if someone had already done that, as he hung there, suspended from the wall, body limp and eyes unmoving. One more time, she called to him, voice barely able to raise above a whisper. “Dais, please. They are going to kill you if you don't say something. Anything. Two words Dais, just two. Please!” her voice rose slightly, begging him. Hand still resting on his face, she looked into his eyes, hoping. Hoping beyond anything that he would respond. Nothing.   
"Dais, Dais!" she called, tears once again threatening to fall from her green eyes. "They are going to kill you if you don't say something. Please, for me. Help me save your life."  
Behind her, Bluue sighed. Something deep inside of her wanted Briar's story to be true. How long she had remembered the child that had stared at her on that night so long ago. Yet time was up, and the girl had not proven her point. She went to push the button, when she heard Briar's last plea.  
"Dais, please. I need you. I really do. Come back to me. Say something, anything. Just don't say nothing." A single tear fell from Briar's cheek, and splattered against Dais's face.  
The whisper was barely audible, passing as if some gentle wind. Yet Bluue heard it as well as the woman to whom the sentence was uttered.  
"I am a war machine?" Dais choked out, spitting the word out almost as if it burned him to even say it.  
Bluue's gasp could be heard from across the room, echoing into the empty room. “Holy shit....” she trailed off.


	24. A Good Deed Unpunished

With a gasp, Bluue pushed the button as fast as she could, then rushed over to help. Hissing slightly as they released their prisoner, the shackles opened, and Dais slumped forward. Briar opened her arms, trying to catch him. Yet once his bulk hit her, her body could not support his bulk and she fell to the floor of the glass room. Dais lay perfectly still, not moving a muscle except for his lips. Over and over he repeated himself.  
"I am a war machine? I am a war machine?" he mumbled to no one in particular. Briar grabbed him, settling her legs beneath him as she rocked him slightly.  
"Shh. Shh. Hush now." She cooed, hands running down his face and hair. It was almost as if she was trying to calm a frightened child. "Everything is alright now. Hush." In the hush of the room, only her voice rang out. "Everything is fine."  
It had not rained all day, yet the air was still full of that expectant feeling of rain. At the back door of the Recom building, three figures emerged. Two of them were holding onto the third, that one being carried between the other two. Walking as fast as one can carrying another human being as a weight on ones back, they rushed to the alley way. There, the taller one stopped, helping the other put their charge on the ground.   
Bluue had been apologizing, tears running down her cheeks all the way to the alleyway. Over and over again she told them both how sorry she was. Briar was beginning to grow tired of hearing the older woman. She had already told her it was OK, and that she was sure Dais would forgive her. Yet she insisted on begging and saying it yet again.  
Briar moved the grate covering the entrance into the long forgotten parts of their sewer. Looking up, she saw the older woman staring at Dais with an unreadable emotion in her eyes.  
"I am so sorry." she whispered, talking not to Briar but to the man who still had not rejoined them in this world. "I never knew. If I had known that you would have evolved, then I would have never...." she cut it off, as she did not want to think what she might have done.  
Leaning over toward Briar, she clasped her hand in both of hers. "If you ever need ANYTHING, come to me. Ask for Bluue at the front desk and give them your name, and I will get you anything you need." She spared one last glance at Dais. "Anything, just ask."  
With that she hurried back across the street, rushing for the back door of the lab. Briar gave her one last look before she hauled herself into the tunnel beyond the grate. Lifting Dais slowly, she pulled him into the darkness with her. The last sound they made was the sound of the grate clanging back into place, echoing around the silent alley.


	25. Nor Iron Bars a Cage

Briar looked over at the man who sat at the table silently. Since she had dragged him back to the tunnel they shared, he had sat in that chair in his beloved study and stared at nothing as if there were answers somewhere in the air waiting for him to snatch them for himself. For the hundredth time that day she sighed, looking over at him. Slowly she stoked the fire, glancing at him every now and then expecting him to say something to her in that hushed whisper he possessed as a voice. Still nothing. Atop the old grill set across the small fire pit lay a set of chops she had scrounged money together to get. Briar had left, promising the almost comatose Dais she would return, and had returned as promised to see he had not moved.  
She walked over to him, calling his name softly. Still no answer, that was until she shoved the plate right under his nose. With a weary and hopelessness look in his eyes, Dais looked up at the woman waving fresh food in his face. Briar smiled at him.  
"Eat up, you don't want to sit here and starve do you?"  
For the first time in hours he moved. Dais stood, his back cracking as he did, yet he seemed to not notice it as he moved past her. "I desire no food. Briar, I am heading to bed." He walked past her, and through the curtains into the room they shared. Unable to take no for an answer, Briar followed him into the room. Muttering to herself she noted that he was at least speaking full sentences other than “I am a war machine?”  
"Dais. I am worried about you." she sat herself on the bed after placing the food on the small table.  
"Go away. I am not in the mood to deal with your incoherent ramblings." Dais curled into a tight ball, ignoring her presence.  
"Let me help you." she touched his arm gently. He brushed her off angrily.  
"How about leaving me the hell alone? That would be a great act of kindness." He flipped himself onto his back, still ignoring her presence.  
"I am a really good listener, perhaps I can help you in some way. Just let me..." she was cut off as his harsh voice screamed at her.  
"Just GET AWAY!" he looked at her, nothing in those red eyes, only a bloody dark pool to nothingness. "Get the hell out of here before I finally kill you and eat your fucking insides!" Tucking his head back under his arms, he did not move another muscle.  
The vein in Briar's jaw clenched. Her patience was waring thin and she was getting tired of this pathetic pity fest. "No. Dais I am not going to leave you the hell alone because I FUCKING CARE ABOUT YOU, PRICK!"  
Dais growled low in his throat. "Get out. Now, just get out of here." He rolled himself up into a little ball away from her.  
"But Dais.."  
"Now."  
Briar looked toward the entrance hearing the warning in Dais's voice. Something in her mind clicked, and she knew she could not run.  
"You can't chase me away. Try as you might Dais, I am here." She scooted next to him, noticing that he had no more bed on which to run from her. His back turned to her, Briar began to rub it, muttering small comforting noises as if he was a small child.  
At first Dais jumped at the touch, but soon began to relax. After a few minutes his breath began to hitch in his chest and his eyes watered. He was going to cry, something he had not done for gods knew how many years. Yet there it was, the tears ran down his cheeks, as his body rocked back and forth with silent sobs.  
Briar continued to rub his back as Dais began to cry. Trying not to shed tears of her own, Briar nearly lost the battle as Dais turned to her, burying his face into her torso. Those long and pale arms wrapped around her, shaking and weakly holding onto her. Briar sat there, stroking his hair, cooing to him as she tried to keep from sobbing as he bawled like a child against her. "Shh. Everything is going to work out. Nothing like that matters. You will see, the sun will rise tomorrow." For hours she held him, repeating herself as he continued to cry.  
*****************************  
She was cold. That was what first struck Briar as odd, when she awoke from her sleep. "When did I fall asleep?" she looked over at the man she assumed would be sleeping next to her. Dais was nowhere to be seen.  
Sitting straight up, Briar was now one hundred percent awake. Dais was missing. She threw herself from the bed, calling his name as she looked for him. Briar stuck her head through the curtain to his study, hoping that he had retaken up his vigil in the large chair. No such luck, as the chair sat there empty and barren. Fear and worry gnawed at her throat, causing it to close up as she walked out of the study. Stepping outside the circular door frame, she stepped into something wet. Hoping it was just water,she looked down and nearly fell over from horror. There in front of the door leading to their quarters was a puddle of blood.  
Only one person could have made this puddle and she soon noticed that it laid a trail, following after its owner. Disgustedly, she followed it, knowing it would eventually lead her to Dais.  
Winding through the tunnels in the large underground labyrinth, Briar tracked the blood splatters, noticing that some ran up the wall as if he had stumbled an leaned against them for support. Why in the hell was this man doing this to himself? Wasn't he hurt enough? Briar nearly gagged at the largest pool of blood that set just outside another small pipe. Stepping around it, she saw no more splatters and deduced that Dais must be in that pipe. Bending down slightly, she walked in. Briar had only slipped once or twice on what she prayed was moss. Soon the tunnel opened wider, allowing her to stand up. That was when the sludge showed up. Slowly it rose higher and higher until it was about mid calve.  
Ahead of her, a street grate illuminated the gloom around them. It also revealed the location of the missing man. Sitting in the sludge, it up to his waist, Dais sat there staring at his hands. Muffling a small scream, Briar rushed towards him. Reaching his side, she grabbed his arm instantly recoiling when she felt how cold his skin was. Peering into his face, she saw his lips were blue and his skin was paler than normal with a bluish tint to it. Hypothermia.  
"Dais!" she grabbed him by the shoulders. "How long have you been here?" Briar screamed at him, checking all over for any new injuries. Blood was seeping from his wounded side, mixing with the green sludge to create a vile brown color.  
This was bad, and getting worse by the second. Briar glanced around, trying to figure out if she could muscle him from this spot back into their room."We have to get you out of here now." she pulled on his arm, when she heard the whisper.  
"It is better if I die," he looked at her for a moment, then back at his hands. "No one will be able to use me for such..." voice trembling, Dais clenched one hand. "such vile purposes."  
Ignoring him, Briar tried once more to drag him from the spot in which he had set himself, only to be met with more pleas to be left to die.  
"Dais, if you don't come with me, I will do something drastic to get you back." Briar warned, her words no more than a hiss as she struggled to move him. Again she tugged on his arm, willing him to get up.  
"There is nothing anyone can do now. I was a mistake, a creation for sick purposes. Why would anyone let a creature like that live?"  
The nerves that had been frayed for the past week or so finally snapped. Briar looked at Dais, and let go of his arm. Dais let out a sigh, sure that she had consented to his plan. That was until she slammed her hand into his jaw as hard as she could.  
His head snapped to the side from the force of the blow. It landed directly on his jaw, making him emit a small groan as the fist skinned his face. Stunned by the mere act, Dais looked at Briar as if she had gone mad. This was the second time she had punched him, and he began to hope this wasn't going to be a common occurrence. Briar really packed a punch. Hair wet with sweat, her clothes soaked as she shivered up to her thighs is sludge, Dais looked at her heaving chest and felt a spark within him flicker for a moment. It was the same spark he had felt that day she had taught him to dance and she had looked directly into his hood, unafraid.   
"You are going to get your ass out of this hell hole right now, get to bed, let me heal your wounds and get over it." Briar seethed, cracking her knuckles once more. "What you were created for does not even fucking come into the equation of your life! Its what you do, not who you were made to be that counts!" she yelled at him, shaking his shoulders. "So get your ass back to the bed before I hit you again!"  
Swallowing a lump in his throat, Dais nodded. Pulling himself from the muck, he got up and they began to slowly make their way to the rooms they shared. Along the way Briar noticed that Dais was falling further and further behind as they went on, seemingly slowing down with every step. Turning to him, she saw him collapse. With a shrill cry she rushed over to him, and saw that he was shivering. Briar set one hand on his forehead, and her skin prickled from the heat that was coming from his forehead. Sighing, Briar began to move his body inch by inch along the tunnel. After almost an hour and much sweat and pushing, she got him into the bed.  
There he lay, shivering and unconscious. Briar bit her lip worriedly, and covered him up the best she could. Laying one hand on his arm, she cooed to him. “ I will be right back Dais, don't die on me. I swear to god I will be right back.”


	26. Within a Dream

The lights from Recom tech glowed in the distance. Briar ran as fast as she could, legs burning as she kept up a pace her lungs could not compete with. Bluue had said to call on her for anything, and even though that had only been a few days ago. Briar needed to have her help.   
She crashed through the door into the lobby, startling the old man at the desk. Out of breath and shaking badly, Briar gasped out her wishes. “Sylvia...Sylvia Bluue. P...please.” For a moment he stared at her, confused and seemingly trying to decided whether or not to hit the panic button hidden just below his desk. Yet he put down his sandwich, which he was immensely enjoying just moments before. With a nod to Briar, he pushed the speaker button marked with the name of his employer. It crackled to life; the static giving way moments later to the annoyed and drowsy sounding voice of Bluue.   
Before the man could talk, Briar yelled at the top of her lungs; “Bluue! Dais is sick, and I dont know what to do!”   
After a moment of silence, Bluue's voice once more came over the speaker. “Send her up.” Then the speaker clicked off, static once more echoing through the front lobby. With a wave of his hand in the opposite direction, eyes not leaving the sandwich. Briar nodded, and took off, pressing the elevator's call button.   
It seemed like it took forever for the elevator to reach the ground floor. Briar was almost bursting with impatience by the time the thing clicked open, the doors peeling back to allow her to come inside. Without pushing a button, the elevator began to move, slightly freaking Briar out as she had not expected the sudden movement. Lurching backwards slightly, she tried to regain her balance.   
Up and up she went, getting more and more impatient as they slowly climbed. Each moment she wasted in this knock off Wonkavator, was a moment Dais suffered alone in his bed. Briar bit her lip, trying not to imagine coming back to find him dead or once again in that cesspool she found him in.  
As she tried not the think of him laying there, dying or in pain, the elevator jerked to a stop. Tugging her from her inner thoughts, the doors slid open to reveal the inside of the office she had burst into only a week before. She had not known there had been another way into the office, if she had, it would have been so much easier to break into the room, though it may have been a bit less dramatic.  
Once again, Bluue sat at her desk, sipping on a cup of tea. With a smile, she greeted Briar.   
“How did you enjoy the ride, my dear?”   
Her smile faded as she got a good look at Briar. Her pants had been soaked through with slime. It raced all the way up her legs mixing the blue of her jeans to a muddy gray. Some of the grime had splattered up onto her shirt, darkening it with flecks of green and other unidentifiable colors.   
“Briar! Where in the hell have you been?” Bluue pushed herself from the chair, rushing to Briar's side.   
Wrapping her arms around her, Bluue lead her to an empty seat next to the desk. Sliding some papers off to the side so she could sit down, she crossed her arms, face serious.   
“What do I owe this visit too?” She raised one red eyebrow, lips pursed.   
Taking a deep breath, Briar recounted what was happening to Dais and his condition. After recounting Dais and his slight break down, Bluue turned from her to hide the fact that worry was crossing her face. Red brows furrowed, she bent over her desk to sort a small pile of papers. There was no real meaning behind this random act. Bluue just really needed something to do with her hands.   
Finally getting her nerves together, she sighed, crossing her arms as she faced Briar once more. “Sounds to me like hypothermia, and more than likely an infection.” Another sigh crossed her lips as she closed her eyes. “He really sat in sewage? I thought you said he was smart....”   
Briar glared at the older woman, cutting off any more harsh remarks. “Are you going to help me or not?”   
Bluue averted her eyes from Briar, looking at her desk. “I would love to Briar, but right now,”  
Briar stood up fast, her face growing hard. Anger flushed her features, eyes narrowing.   
“So all that shit you said meant nothing? You are going to stand there, after telling me that I could come to you with anything I needed, and let me walk out of here empty handed? That you are going to sit up here safe and sound as Dais is once more dying and you do not even care? “ Briar seethed.   
“Now, now I never said that..” Bluue countered, standing up straight, arms held in front of her as if trying to sheild herself from Briar.   
“The HELL you did not! You just stood there and told me that you could not help. You even dressed the no up nicely.” She snarled, teeth snapping as she spoke. “ I'd love to Briar, but right now.” Briar mocked her voice, venom dripping from her voice.   
Recoiling as if the mockery had somehow physically attacked her, Bluue stared at the girl in shock. “How dare you!” she growled, thrusting her arms down to her sides, setting her feet apart as if ready for a fight. “I risked everything just getting you two out of my lab, and now you expect me to jeopardize my career by stealing you medicine? Briar, I need more of a warning! There is no way short of stealing from my own company to get you those medicines in such a short time!”   
Briar stared at the distress in Bluue's face and sighed. Hanging her head, she apologized. “I am sorry. We have already asked so much of you, and to ask anymore is just rude and ignorant.” Turning from her, and walking to the elevators doors. “Sorry to have wasted your time.”  
With the feeling of eyes on her back, Briar stepped into the doors as they opened, and did not look back. Her one line to helping Dais had been cut and she needed to find a way to help him herself.   
****************  
Rushing her way through the tunnels, she eventually found herself once more in the underground world she called home. Without a moment of hesitation, she threw back the tall curtains Dais used as a makeshift door and stepped into the room. For a few days, she had been allowed to walk through the room Dais once kept secret from her. Well, allowed was not the right word to use. It was more like she walked through it to leave once in a while and he had not tried to stop her or had warned her to stay away. He had not said anything at all really. Taking this as permission, she now looked about the room.   
Rounded ceiling and walls made it hard for furniture of any kind to fit into the space, but somehow he had managed to jerry-rig somethings to work. Old milk and wood crates sat stacked on top of each other, broken and warped two by fours in between them. Books of all kinds sat on them, much like in the bedroom where they covered almost every available inch of space. Mason jars littered the room, stubs of candles and sometimes a whole or mostly unburnt candle inside of them. Wax dripped down the sides of books, and platters. Saucers were covered in wax from old candles long since extinguished, and teacups with the wicks of barely seen candles poking from the top. It seemed once he had run out if mason jars, Dais had used anything available to put his candles in.   
Striding into the center of the room, she went to the table pressed against the far wall. It was an old wooden dining table that once must have been two feet shorter. Three wooden rods were attached to the legs by ropes and nails. The one leg without a rod attached was propped up by a large set of cinder blocks, making the table slightly unbalanced. It did not help any that the table was so laden with books, and papers and odd tools that it buckled in the middle.   
Briar began to rummage through the pages that set before her. Shuffling the papers about, sparing glances to see if anything of use was written down. Dais's scribbling were all over the scraps of papers, his handwriting looping and fine. On one section of note book, torn and stained, she caught a glimpse of something intriguing. It was tucked away under a large book, almost as if it was hidden away for safety. Briar lifted up the side of the book, the old spine crackling and flaking as she moved it from its eternal resting spot. Hands still holding the book, Briar awkwardly maneuvered her middle and ring fingers to slide the piece of paper farther out onto the table.  
Sighing, with relief that the book had managed not to fall apart in her hands, she eased it back down onto the table. Excitement building in her chest, she looked at the scrap of paper. What had caught her attention became apparent instantly. There is was, scrawled at the top along with a few stanza's of poetry. Her name.   
_“Briar, a name befitting no other.  
A glass rose with a diamond core,   
So fragile to touch,   
Yet so hard to break.”_  
At the bottom his signature was scrawled but at the second half of his surname, the page cut off. It was almost as if it had been torn from some book. Briar smiled, the grin coming on to her despite her wishes. Yet there it was. No one had ever written poetry about her before. Well, not exactly. Adam had once given her a line in his song.   
“Juliet and Romeo, both on the streets, no where to go. A rose so sweet with thorns so deep, oh Romeo.”   
Blowing a strand of hair from her eyes, she rolled her eyes at the inane lyrics of that third rate musician. No, that had been to appease her for some long forgotten hurt he had caused. This, this was not asked for. Hell, she had not even known about the poem until she had gone through his stuff. Briar bit her lip, and tucked the poem into her pants, hoping to keep such a beautiful poem for her own.   
Going back to searching through Dais's desk, she tore through the rest of his books and papers. There was nothing there, no notes on some poultice or some miracle cure he had pulled out of his ass years before. There was nothing. NOTHING. Desperation was beginning to set in, Briar could feel her chest tightening. Rushing across the floor, she moved towards the shelves against a far wall. Bricks were stacked as high as they could go, boards and anything that could support the weight of books and jars made up the shelves between the bricks. Each shelf was a collection of odd jars. Some of them were large and heavy, others tiny and filled to the top. A few were cracked and taped up, while most were just dusty. Yet each one had a hand written label. In the curvy handwriting she only knew as Dais's, Briar read out the labels.   
Vanilla, Mint, Wormwood, Lilac, Ginger, Ginseng, Rosemary, Cloves, Anise the list went on and on. There had to be over a hundred jars filled with herbs and odd substances. If there wasn't some herb in the jar, it was a solution. These labels were different from the others. They had odd symbols, sometimes pluses and other times equals and minuses. Circles and other little signs adorned them. There were even more of these jars than there were of the ones with herbs.   
Realizing that she had found Dais's medicine cabinet, Briar began to hyperventilate. She had found the medicine, but she could not understand a damn one's label! “How in the fuck am I supposed to read these labels? DaVinci could not read these goddamn labels!”She pulled at her hair a little, trying to remain calm. There was no way she could fix him if she could not even read the medicines. Tears began to come from her eyes, and unable to stop them Briar slid to the floor. Resting her head on her knees, she sobbed for the friend she could not save.


	27. For the Sake of a Friend

“Briar?” a voice echoed through the tunnels, distant and fading in and out.   
Popping her head up, Briar sniffled. “Huh?” She coked her head to the side, trying to decide if that had come from her own head. For a moment she heard nothing, then it came again.   
“Briar!” the voice lost and gained momentum, as if it was from another time. Yet, she knew this voice; she had heard it earlier that very day. Using her hands to push her to her feet as fast as she could, Briar run out of the curtained doorway and out into the tunnels.   
“Bluue? Bluue is that you?” she cried, trying to make the woman come to her. Yet it was impossible. Once you were lost in those tunnels, only someone who knew them could get you out. It was a labyrinth down there, and the goblin king was out for the count at the moment.   
Another call came a few moments later. “Briar! Thank god! I am near the gate you use...” her voice faded off. Briar let out a breath she did not know she had been holding. For a moment there she had been scared that Bluue had wandered into the pipes. If that was true, then there was no way Briar would have ever been able to find her.   
“Hold on! Do not move!” she yelled, taking off into the tunnels. She only knew one way in and out of the tunnels, and prayed Bluue was talking about that one. She sped around a bend, moving towards the light from the grate. Something blocked part of the light, distorting the shadow cast on the walls of the pipe. Shoes hitting the pavement, she came around the last corner, running straight into the mass of Sylvia Bluue.  
Bluue staggered back, gripping the wall to regain her balance. “Holy god Briar, please watch out....” she straightened herself, tugging her shirt back onto her body correctly.   
“Shit, I am so sorry Bluue. Did not expect you to be right there.” she laughed a little, trying to catch her breath. All of this running and moving was really taking a lot out of her. Her wounds were still not fully healed, and now her side was twinging a little bit. Slipping one hand into her shirt, she put it on her side and took deep breaths.  
“Ahaha, you have to remember dear, I am an old lady. We do not have the balance of you young folks.” Bluue smirked, patting Briar on the head.   
“Sure, old woman.” Briar pulled away from her patting hand. “So;” she took a breath and looked around. “What the hell are you doing down here?”   
Bluue's smile faded, and she shifted her feet guiltily. Slowly, she rubbed one arm and looked at Briar only sparingly. “I....I thought of what you said. I know its...its probably not as good as an apology, but I did bring something to help.” Bluue reached into the small bag settled on her shoulder and pulled out a bottle of pills. “These are Fluoroquinolones . We use them to treat bacterial infections. Give them to him and make sure he is dry and warm. That is the only thing we can do.”   
Briar took the pills from her hand, a tear welling up in her eye. “Thank you.” she choked out, voice cracking. “Thank you so much Bluue.”  
********************************  
Splitting the curtains that veiled the bedroom from the work station. Briar stepped into the bed room and walked as calmly as she could to the bedside. Everything in her body screamed at them for her to run to his side. Yet, the chance of her tripping over the candles, stack of books, or stray paper was too risky. Her side was already stinging and any further damage would throw her into severe pains.   
Seeing Bluue back to the surface, Briar waited until her friend was far from her sight before she returned to home. As much as she liked Bluue, Dais would not like it if the woman saw his inner sanctum. Slowly and trying not to disturb his. One hand came up to touch his forehead, feeling the sweat gathered there. The blanket seemed to be working, the blue was fading from his lips slowly.  
Settling next to him, she shook him lightly. He did not wake, eyes shut tight. Again she tried to wake him up. He needed to take the medicine, but it was going to be impossible to give it to him if he did not wake up. “Dais. Dais wake up, you need to take these.” Again he did not react, and Briar leaned over him to try and wake him, shaking him harder.   
“Dais!”   
This time he did react, moaning out in his sleep. “No.” he softly called, arm twitching. Briar looked puzzled for a moment before she realized what was wrong. Dais was having a nightmare.


	28. Each Man's Mind

_The fog was rolling in, a blanket of heavy gray slowly suffocating him. For all his strength he could not move, could not struggle. Oh how he wanted to struggle. Yet he could not even breath. No voice could escape, his lungs pressed as flat as paper. He felt cold, colder than he had ever felt before.  
No. That was not true. He had felt this cold before. It was all he could remember, falling, falling. Falling into the nothingness below. Falling for what felt like forever, only to hit a cold blanket the soon enveloped him. Lungs that could not breath, burning and yearning for the precious air. All of this he had done before. Yet, this would not end. It had before. In his memories, he had soon found his breath, the cold blanket of water tossing him up on another cold surface. Once his breath was back, he had sobbed and crawled. Crawled on and on until he had come to his home. That was how it had ended, yet this was not those memories.  
Deeper and deeper the fog became, growing heavier with each moment. Dais could feel his body sinking into the fog, not being able to discern himself from it. A movement in the fog caught his attention, something within the fog was moving.   
More and more things began to move within the fog. They swarmed over each other, mixing and churning like an ocean. As he stared on, they began to change. Faces formed, leering at him. They popped out of the fog just long enough to look at him in horror, then they would disappear back into the turmoil. His heart stopped in his chest, a ball of fear slowly working its way through his body. For what seemed like an eternity, the faces came and went, each staring at him in horror or in disgust. Fast and faster they came. Spinning about him. It was dizzying, the wall of faces growing higher and higher. Dais could barely tell what was up and what was down. It was all lost in the faces that swam before him.  
Suddenly, there was no movement. As fast as they arrived, the faces disappeared. There was nothing happening. Before him was just a wall of fog, nothing more. The pressure on his lungs eased, letting him breath. Yet he could still not make a sound. In fact it seemed as if no sound existed, as he heard nothing. Nothing at all.   
Woooosh. The sound suddenly cracked through the silence, tearing into his head like a claw. From the fog moved large chains, metal clinking against metal, a symphony of chaos echoing in his skull. Flying about him, they formed a cocoon about him, tightening on his skin so he could feel the links tearing into his flesh. With a scream he was finally able to move, crying out for help.   
“BRIAR!” the cry tore from his throat, making everything disappear. As if made of the fog, the chains vaporized and he felt himself rushing upwards. With another scream he broke to the surface, only to find himself sitting up in his bed. _  
His many covers had been tucked about him, cradling him as he slept. A touch to his skin alarmed him, as his hand came away wet. For a moment Dais was scared, thinking that he had just been in some sort of water, until he realized with a sigh that it was just sweat.   
Still wound up from the dream, Dais nearly jumped out of bed when a small hand touched his shoulder. Turning, he came face to face with Briar.   
“Dais....” she trailed off, voice containing a note of concern and some emotion he did not recognize. “Lay down, it was just a nightmare.” Briar smoothly pushed him back onto the bed.   
"Briar?" his voice was hoarse, and dry. "Briar, there is something I must tell you."  
Shushing him to conserve his strength, Briar put a glass of water, to which she had added the medicine, to his lips. Drinking it in like a drowning man, Dais sputtered as she pulled the cup away.   
“Hush. There is time for such things later.” she cooed to him, running her hand down his jaw, trying to sooth him anyway she could.   
He slept.   
******************************  
Eyes darting around, sometimes lucid, other times far off, he sweated through his fever. Sometimes Dais called to her, mostly it was in his sleep. Yet it was the times he called for her when he was awake that moved her most. Each time it was nothing meaningful or coherent, but his calling to her and only her made her feel needed. On the third day, he seemed to recognize their surroundings.   
"I am dying." he croaked to her, eyes lucid as he stared at the woman sitting on the bed next to him. She smiled at him, and wiped his forehead.  
"No you're not. Sleep now."  
"I mean it Briar. I want to tell you somethings before I go."  
After three days of this Briar decided to humor him. "What is it you have to tell me Dais?" She stretched out beside him. He stretched one hand out shyly to her, hoping she would take it. She did, curling her fingers about his large hand.   
"You are the most remarkable young lady I have ever met. You know that?" he asked staring straight at her. "I once a monster, pretending to be a man. That's all I was. You changed that Briar. You did."  
Smiling at the kind words, she kissed his forehead gently. "That's sweet Dais. Get some sleep."  
"No. I don't know how to tell you this, but I think I love you. Not that I have ever felt that emotion before, but I think it is love.” Briar was hard pressed to tell whether or not the redness on his face was from the fever or a blush. Dais rambled on, his voice cracking and sputtering. “Sure sounds like it, from what I have read in some of the books down here. Just thought you should know."  
He once more got quiet, as Briar sat stunned by the words coming from the sick man before her. He loved her? He loved her. That was what he had said, and Dais looked so sincere. Tears trickled down her face as she turned to him, only to find him asleep. Breathing gently, he seemed to finally be at peace. It was a major change from the last few days of nightmares and tossing he had endured. Briar settled beside him, waiting for him to once again come around.


	29. To Cast All Others Aside

Dais lay cross legged on the bed, trying to force his wandering mind on the book open in front of him. It was of no use though, as his eyes kept darting from the pages set in gold trim to the form set in a wool sweater. Even as he turned the pages, no attention was paid to the words flowing across them. They simply blurred and faded from his mind as most other things had been doing lately. Finally admitting defeat Dais slammed the book shut, and looked over at Briar. She was currently stoking the fire in the pit and trying to boil some tea.  
"Briar?" Dais called softly, not wanting to disturb her.  
"Hnn?" came the distracted reply, as Briar set the kettle over the now small fire. He sighed, not sure exactly how to go about setting things right. Many things had been said during his fever a few days before and neither one of them had yet to bring it out into the open. Now was his chance. Yet how should he approach this? Dais had no clue, not being very educated in the ways of women.  
"Care to help me change this bandage? I fear it has outlived its use." He lifted one arm to show the tightly wrapped cloth around his torso, binding his wound so as to prevent another infection. Nodding, Briar crossed the room and crawled up on the piles of covers and pillows to sit herself right next to Dais on the bed. Pulling the bandage slowly, she removed it from his back.  
Briar noted quickly that Dais seemed subdued, almost depressed. Yet this was a much better state than what she had found him in only days before. Ribs broken and his wound infected, Dais had sat himself in a large puddle of god knows what, and had stayed there for over twelve hours staring at his hands. Suffering from a mild case if hypothermia as well as fighting off the infection in his stab wound, Briar had straightened him out with a well placed punch to the jaw. Finally getting through to the injured man, she had drug him back to their room, and had cared for him as he sweated out the last effects of his wounds in a fever.  
"I was once a monster, who dreamed he was a man. Briar, thats all I was, until you came along."  
In his fever Dais had told her many things, perhaps thinking himself dying. These things were her little secret, tucked away so when she needed them, they would be there. After waking from his fever half a day ago, Dais had barely said anything and kept glancing at his hands in quiet disgust.  
"I have to ask you something." She barely heard his voice, and almost did not catch that he was talking to her.  
"What?"  
"Why?" the word hung in the air, filling the room although it had been barely louder than a whisper.  
"I couldn't leave you there to die. Dais," Briar grabbed him by the shoulders and twisted him to face her. "Those men had terrible, nasty. beastly intentions for me! You saved me once again." She looked into his face, and quickly looked away as another blush rose to heat her face. Fumbling with her words she did not say anything else, just began to fiddle with the new bandages wound about his waist.  
"You saved me as well. Our debts are paid in full,and yet.." he turned himself towards her more. Shifting his whole body to be directly facing her, Dais looked down at the young woman sitting before him. "you stay here. Why is this so?"  
Tying off the bandage in the front of his chest Briar waved her free hand passively. "There is really nothing for me above ground at the moment. Plus I like it down here." She continued to fiddle with his bandages, going over once more what she had been over three or four times.  
"You like it down here with the monsters?" Dais's voice was bitter. At this her heart clenched, if that was what he thought of himself she would have to prove him wrong.  
"Oh Dais, you are no monster. You are the least monstrous person I have ever met." Again she rechecked his bandages, looking for loose spots. One clawed hand came up and stilled her movements, the black of his large hand swallowing hers. Briar looked up through her lashes, and saw a look of pure confusion on his face. She straightened up just as Dais leaned down towards her.  
Capturing her mouth with his, Dais felt a spark ignite in his stomach. It flowed forward, igniting his skin at every spot she touched. Briar's eyes grew wide for a moment, then shut as she fell into the kiss, and opened her mouth under his. Deepening the kiss, she ran one hand through his hair accidentally toppling a few dreads that had settled on the crown of his head. Everywhere she touched just fueled the flames, and pushed the passion higher. It was making his blood boil.  
Pulling back, Dais looked at Briar, her face flushed almost as bad as he expected his to be. "I am so sorry..." he floundered on the words to use, something that rarely ever happened to him. "I do not know wha..." Dais's ramble was cut short by Briar throwing her arms about his neck, stealing his lips for her own. She could feel the sting of his teeth on her bottom lip as he moved his mouth, but she ignored it. Grabbing the passion as it grew higher and higher, she pulled them farther along.  
Pulling himself from her lips, Dais set about placing small kisses to the nape of her neck, tracing it to her shoulders. Lips brushed against her neck. "Dais..." she gasped. Feeling him smile against her skin, he continued his journey to her shoulders. A moment later, his teeth scraped skin, causing her to flinch. It did not hurt, but was merely a reflexive action. Dais noticed this and instantly drew back. Removing his clawed hands from her waist, he fell back on the bed.  
Briar turned her head, looking at him from the corner of her eye. He lay with one arm over his eyes, his lips thin with barely withheld grief.  
"Dais." she called, laying next to him, grabbing a small cushion to pillow he head as she stretched out beside him. He ignored her, so she tried again. "Dais, its okay." His reply was almost instantaneous.  
"No its not okay!" he groaned. The one arm that had been covering his eyes moved, a single red orb staring at her in distress. "I hurt you Briar, I never want to do that."  
Before she could get out her next thought, he interrupted her. "I was trying to bring you pleasure, but that seems impossible for me." Dais looked sat up.  
"What you are is not the point is this matter..." Briar tried to console him, but only received a cold shoulder.  
"THAT is the point here!" his voice softened, taking on the whisper she was so used to. A clawed finger traced one of the scrape marks on her shoulder. "Everything I touch," his finger left her shoulder and touched the large sharp teeth that fell over his lips. "It becomes tainted in the most unholy of ways." Sighing, he stared at his large clawed hands.  
Sensing his distress, Briar ran her hand down his arm and laced her fingers amongst his. Silently she pulled him back to the bed they had shared for so long. Lying silently, hands entwined, neither spoke for an endless moment until Dais spoke. "Why do you stay?" His voice held no emotion, using the voice he had taken with her time and time again.  
Briar decided that words would never convince him of the way she felt for him. Being a man of decisions, she knew the only language he spoke was that of action. Slowly she turned to him, and pulled him on to his elbows for a kiss. Dais let her kiss him, a guttural moan emitting from the back of his throat. Pushing him backwards, Briar rolled herself on top of him never once ending the kiss.  
Alarmed, Dais pulled himself back from her. His face was red with pure embarrassment and raw lust. I am between her legs. He sputtered in his mind.   
Never had he done anything like this is his twenty some years of life. Never had there been this much passion, so much it felt like a knot of hot embers that glowed in his stomach and radiated to his loins. That much need had never consumed him so. Reaching upward, he caressed her smiling face with one clawed hand. He knew she was the only cure he could never create, the only drug he could never contain in a small bottle. As much as he knew better, he knew that he needed this, needed her.  
Briar allowed him to grasp her chin, leading her down to his face. Lips touched, and his hands flowed to her shoulders roaming down her back in a feather light touch making her shudder in delight. Briar let her hands flow down his chest, tracing the thick sinew that made up his unique body. Lips leaving his face, she placed a series of kisses on his chest. Urgency now filling both of them, Dais hooked his clawed hands into her shirt and ripped it from her.  
More clothes ripped away, as she began to unbutton the torn and stained jeans buckled about his waist. Finally getting the snap to release, she slid them down off his hips. Dais accommodated her, moving his legs to help with the removal of his few pieces of clothing. Soon they lay against each other bare and exposed. Briar shivered in the cold of the tunnel, her body reacting accordingly. Dais lay completely nonreactive to the cold about him, yet he sensed that she needed to be covered. One clawed hand gripping one of the comforters on the floor, he flung it over both of them. Briar smiled at the small act of kindness, and bent down once more to kiss him. Taking advantage of this, he rolled her over, settling himself between her legs, hovering over her.  
"What caused that?" Briar laughed lightly, looking at him in surprise. He just looked at her confused.  
"My body has become accustomed to the cold of this tunnel by producing more heat to make up for that loss. Your body has no such function, there for I think this would be more comfortable at the moment, seeing as how the cold can affect your health." he stated as if it was common knowledge. Cutting him off from uttering another syllable, she kissed him passionately. Breaking it off moments later, she grinned at him.  
"You talk to much. Actions are better." at this the man laying crushed against her chuckled lightly.  
"Dare I?" he asked, a soft tremor in his voice. Calves wrapped about his slim waist, she smiled and laced her hand through the dreadlocks along his head. The other hand gripped the muscles along his back, digging into his shoulder blade. A quick squeeze was her only retort. His gaze softened, and he placed another kiss on her lips. Deepening the kiss, he positioned himself between her legs, and set himself just inside her. Briar groaned against his lips, and Dais captured her mouth passionately stalling all other noises. Holding her mouth captive, he thrust into her quickly.  
Briar gasped, never had she felt this way during sex. Nothing with Adam had ever been this exciting. She moaned as he pulled back, tip brushing over her spot. Biting his lip as he pushed in once again, Dais started a rhythm slowly moving in and out. Placing his large form over hers, he clutched the pillows above her head as he supported himself only by his elbows. She clung to him, fingernails scratching into his back with each thrust, her hips coming up to meet him in their dance. All the while she moaned into the hallow of his neck. They clung together as if survivors in the sea.  
Dais knew he was close, could feel the upcoming orgasm building inside his loins begging to be loosed. Yet Briar was a different story. Long ago she had gotten quiet, only occasionally moaning his name. She had stopped calling out and moaning after the second time she had spasmed beneath him in pleasure, her muscles closing around his shaft as she reached her full pleasure. The movement of her hands on his back and the pillows beneath her was the only sign of her enjoyment other than that of her rocking hips. Now feeling that he could no longer hold out on his own orgasm, Dais pushed in biting his lip, struggling to stop himself from ending it.   
Beneath him Briar gasped, moaning slightly as she grasped the cushion and arching her back as she exploded. Sensing that coming, Dais pushed in once more, letting himself release as she did. Tearing cloth was heard as Dais's claws shred the the cushions above her head.  
Breathless for the time being, he convulsed slightly and collapsed on top of her. From underneath his mass, he felt her smile. He allowed one to grace his face as well. Believe it or not, Dais had found happiness.  
After a few moments, he pulled himself up from her body and rolled beside her. Briar moved closer, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Lazily Dais kissed her again and again, wrapping his arms about her as he pulled her close. Once more their bodies touched, Briar fitting perfectly into the hollow of his body. He set his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes. Both of them were closed, a smile on her face as she rubbed her fingers over his arms. It had been everything she had thought it would be and more.   
Sleepily Dais closed his eyes, sighing. He kissed her forehead again and spoke wearily. “How was that?”  
Briar chuckled, and kissed him once more. “That was completely....SHIT!” She sat straight up, pulling the covers about her body. Dais sat up as well, shocked that she had insulted him so.  
“Look here! It was my first time....I am new to this. If it was bad give me time to improve, do not just insult me like that!” He huffed, face turning red.   
Briar looked over her shoulder, “Huh? Oh no no no. It was amazing. I just remembered that I left the kettle on the fire.” With that she climbed out of the bed, naked against the cold and ran to the small fire pit. The fire had long died out and the kettle was completely empty. All the water had evaporated, and neither of them had noticed. With a sight Briar placed the kettle back on the rack and ran back to the bed. Again she clambered under the covers with Dais and instantly cuddled up against him.   
Dais once more wrapped his arms about her, snuggling himself as close to her as their forms would allow. Face still red he looked at her. Voice cracking with embarrassment, he spoke. “So it was not bad?”   
Giggling Briar reached up and kissed him again, pulling him over top of her.   
“It was amazing, but as you said, you could use more practice.”   
A smile worked its way across his face and he chuckled lightly. “Practice makes perfect.” With that he kissed her again, as Briar moved the covers to cover them both once more.


	30. Chapter 30

The Devil Keeps Grinning  
She awoke to a large black claw wrapped about her waist. Anyone else in this situation would have freaked, but not her. This claw belonged to the man sleeping beside her. His gentle breathing letting her know that he slept peacefully.   
Smothering a chuckle, she moved from his grasp as slowly as she could. Not wanting to disturb him, she moved inch by inch until his hand fell to the bed. Waiting breathless for a moment, Briar watched him to see any sign of waking. When he did not stir, she let out her breath, and slid off the bed.   
Briar was heading to the surface, getting ready to repay Bluue for her kindness. Amongst the things Dais had brought home over the years she had found a few trinkets that were worth a bit of money. Silent as the grave, she slid into her pants and struggled with the sweater that threatened to eat her head before she got her arms in its sleeves.   
Slipping her shoes on as she walked out of the tunnel, she climbed up the steel bars that were placed on the side of the tunnel. Briar shivered a bit, the frost cutting into her hands as she climbed. Before long it would be winter, and she did not want to be climbing these bars when the frost came. Yet that was a few months away. For now it was just beginning to drop into the chilly range.  
With a grunt she moved the grate from the sewers opening and hauled herself up and out onto the street. It was about midday, she and Dais having slept through the night and the morning.  
“Of course.” she chuckled, face going red. “We were awfully busy last night.”   
Stepping out into the city air, she took a deep breath. It had been a while since she had come to the surface, other than for an emergency. A smile crossed her face. She had always loved cities, something about them captured her imagination. Even though she had lived on the poorest side of town in a place that could barely be considered an apartment, she loved the city still. Bending down, she pushed the grate back over the enterance to the sewer, sealing once more the secret she held of Dais.   
After gathering her old cold over his chest, she walked toward the address Bluue had slipped her with Dais's medication. It was her home address, and the note had said to visit anytime. People walked past, many not even aware of where they were walking. It was mid morning, so there were not a lot of people out, which Briar counted as good luck. The people that were out looked at her as if she was some sort of plauge. At first it had confused her, then the realization came. Briar was walking around in scrounged clothes and a coat that at the best could be described as patchwork. Holes adorned her pants, covered with a large black skirt Dais had found for her behind some apartments. The sweater wrapped about her form had the neck torn so it hung from her shoulders. To make up for it she had layered underneath it a tank top, the strap of which poked out on the side of the sweater's tear. All this added to the old boots wrapped about her feet. Leather cords tried them to her legs, the bottom of her jeans stuffed into them to prevent the cold from seeping in.  
As soon as it had gotten cold, Dias had spent three days rummaging through dumpsters and trashcans and suitcases left out in the street to find her suitable winter wear. He had come back with his arms full of old clothing, asking her if she minded to be a bit mismatched. She smirked, “This coming from the man who's idea of changing to winter clothes is to wear pants with fewer holes in them.”  
It was not Dais's fault that his body as better adapted to the cold of the winter, nor was it her fault that hers was not. Yet, this worked to an unseen advantage. For it allowed her to be warmed by his presence, and it allowed him for once in his life to share his warmth with another. This thought brought a smile to her face, and she grinned a little grin as she checked the address on the paper.  
Briar knew when she reached the building, it stretched far above her head, disappearing into the horizion. The walls were made of a polished stone, signs in copper naming the building and telling all those who cared its history. Ignoring the plate, she opened the clear and polished double doors and stepped into a beautiful lobby.   
The ceilings were high and sloped, creating a dome adorned with statues and gargoyles the likes of which could be seen on churches throughout the world. For a moment, Briar looked about. This was the kind of place that people often dreamed of living in, and others took advantage of. The pure beauty of the polished marble and trimmings, the windows that sparkled with the days light and the almost invisible slivers of light that swam across the floor like ethereal fish in a sea of stone. Everything was so shiny and so new, a girl who had only ever known the mediocrity of a suburban home and the squalor of a one room apartment could not take in all the details at once. Briar felt almost unwanted in a place like this, as if she were a gypsy lost in a palace.   
A cough awoke her from her stupor, and she jerked her head toward the sound. It had come from a plump balding man who sat at a polished desk in the center of the room. He wore the outfit one would expect from a desk clerk, white button down under a blue jacket, black slacks that melted into his shined loafers. For a moment, he ogled her with a look of suspicion, then cleared his throat once again and called out to her. “May I help you?” his voice was nasily, and high pitched, with the tone of someone who looks down on those lesser than those he served.   
Briar looked him in the eye, and walked across the room with her head held high. No one ever spoke to her in a belittling way and got away with it. This man may think she was the gum on his loafers, but he was no different than her and those whom he snubbed. Never breaking eye contact, she came to the desk and said in a high voice, “I am here to see Sylvia Bluue.”   
With a smirk, she watched as the man's face grew tight. “Well, Ms. Bluue never told me she was expecting such.....” beady eyes trailed down her form and back to her face, his lips drawn tight. “such company.” The final word escaped his lips like a venom.   
Briar just smiled and leaned against the counter, making the man flinch as she touched his polished desk. “Surely she left a note, or something. Think on it.” with that she stretched and leaned back, whistling and smiling at the stumpy man.   
“ I shall call my manager, and see if we can get this.....situation under control.” he picked up a phone near his hand and quickly punched in a number. Holding up one finger to her, he spoke quietly into the phone. After nodding at something the invisible person on the other end had said, he hung up the phone. Looking at her with an odd smile, he told her to wait. “It will be just a moment, and you will be directed to where you belong.”  
Not liking the look on his face, Briar grew nervous. Something was off, and she had been with Adam at too many concerts not the know what. Her answer came a moment later when from a door off to the side of the desk came two men in security guard uniforms. With a nod at her, the stumpy man went back to work.   
One of the guards, an older man who obviously had worked at this job for many years, tipped his hat at her. “Ma'am.” voice rough, reminding her a bit of the old action hero John Wayne, “Can we accompany you outside the premises?”   
His partner, younger and unsympathetic to the plight of the seemingly homeless girl before him sneered. “Reports are you are causing trouble at the front desk. Orders are to remove you.”   
Briar looked at the stumpy man, who was now avoiding looking at her. Her eyes narrowed, catching him in their path. “Go ahead you coward, sick the dogs on me.” With a sigh, she looked at the older guard, ignoring the asshole that was his partner.   
“I am here to see Sylvia Bluue, but the angry tree stump over there will not let me past the desk. There is no need for you to escort me outside.” Her voice was calm, yet inside she was trying to calm herself. She understood that she did not look like someone who belonged here, but to be treated this rudely was just disgusting. If she was being treated this way, she completely understood why Dais hid himself beneath the streets. She might be unwanted, but he would be feared, and eventually killed.   
Her attitude must have amused the younger guard as he snorted and a wicked grin crossed his face. “Oh. We are not going to escort you outside,” snorting again as he laughed he leered at her. “we are going to toss your homeless ass out on the street.” With that, he moved toward her.  
Before she could react, the man had his hand wrapped about her upper arm, twisting the skin as he tried to haul her away. Gritting her teeth, she lashed out. Her upper hand caught the man above the nose, knocking him backwards with a cry of pain. At this the older man, having no choice but to restrain the combative girl, launched forward. Using years of experience, he slid his arms around hers and quickly pinned them to the back of her head.   
Briar struggled, trying to get out of the hold, her arms beginning to hurt as he pressed them to her skull. The other guard looked up at her, trying to stem the flow of blood from his nose.   
“Ew bith!” he sniffed loudly, trying to make the blood at least stay in his nose. “Ew fukin bith, ew boke muh nobe!” Coming toward her, eyes watering he glared at her with pure hatred. From the look in his eyes she knew he had not been expecting her to do something of the sort.   
A small smile formed in Briar's mind, and she waited for him to get closer. He did, inching closer and closer to her face and she struggled against the hold of the older man. “My specialty you cocksucker!” she growled out, snapping her jaws at the man trying to cow her.   
Being called a name must have triggered something in the younger guard, as he moved forward and grabbed her jaw in one hand. The older guard looked down and was about to say something, but the younger one spoke first.  
“Whut di you caw me ew lil unt?” he growled, face contorting with rage.   
“Reginald, there is no need for that kind of lan..” the older guard spoke harshly, trying to reprimand the other. Yet Briar beat him too it. With the man's face no more than an inch from hers, Briar opened her jaw as much as she could and spit right into his face.  
That was the last straw, as Reginald drew his hand back and with all his force struck at her jaw. Briar closed her eyes, waiting for the blow, but it never came. After waiting a few seconds, she cracked open one eye to see his hand only a few inches from her cheek. It was held back by an old hand with long red nails.   
“Alvis!” the familiar voice of Bluue rang out in the marble room. “What in the hell is going on here?” she spoke to the older guard, totally ignoring the man who's hand she held in her grip. “I leave to the market and come back to find you and the others assaulting my guest?” Her voice was tight, angry.   
“Ms. Bluue,” the quivering voice of the stumpy man rang out. “This person can not possibly be a guest of yours. I mean just look at the way she clothes herself, and her vicious attack on the loyal gaur...”  
Bluue cut him off sharply. “Mervin, kindly shut your mouth.” With a huff, she glared at Alvis. Her eyes shone with authority, and without another word he let go of her. A grunt escaped her as she was set back on the ground. As soon as her feet were back on the ground, Bluue let go of Reginald's hand and wrapped her arm about Briar's shoulder. “Come dear, we will get you cleaned up with a nice cup of tea in your stomach.” One last glare at the men in the lobby, she lead her over to one of the silver doored elevators. Loudly and making sure her voice carried, Bluue spoke to Briar. “We will have to see management about those two.” A clang echoed about the room as the door opened and Bluue ushered her inside.   
Once inside, she did not even let Briar get a word out. Bluue quickly flitted about her, making sure they had not done anything to harm her. As she moved about her as a hummingbird does to a especially pollen filled flower, Briar tried to get out as many words as she could between the woman's ramblings.   
“Does your arm hurt when you move it?”   
“Bluue, it's fi”  
“How about your neck? It was bent at an odd angle.”  
“I am fine, I just came to than”  
“God I can not believe they did this to you! I mean of all the ways to treat someone based on the way they dress! I mean, in my day it would have been normal for someone to be taken as a vagrant. Yet, in these days? Half the children wear clothes with holes and mismatched items! For the love of all that is good and decent to treat a friend of mine like this. I will have that Mervin's head on a platt...”  
Finally tired of the ramblings, Briar put both her hands on the older woman's shoulders. “BLUUE!.” When the older woman looked up, Briar smiled. “I am ok. Those guys did nothing I have not dealt with before.” With a laugh, Briar patted her shoulders.   
A sad smile passed Bluue's face before she straightened up and cleared her throat. “I guess this is true. Now,” she pushed her glasses back onto her face. “What brings you here my dear?”  
Briar laughed a bit, and at that moment the elevator's door opened, and Bluue directed her to the door just in front of her. “Go on ahead dear, I have to run an errand.”   
Looking about, Briar was confused. There was only one door on this entire floor. “Bluue, where is the other rooms?”  
“There are no other rooms on this floor. The entire thing belongs to me.” Reaching into her pockets, she pulled out a set of keys. “Let yourself in. I will be back.” As she said this, the door to the elevator closed, leaving Briar alone in the hallway.   
“Here goes nothing,” Briar breathed, putting the key into the door lock and turning the key. With a push, the door swung open.   
*******************  
The sight that met her eyes was one she could not believe. Bluue had been telling the truth. This apartment did take up the entire floor. A living room stretched before her, filled with a couch and two chairs. A glass table set in the middle of the room, forming a little area for friends and family to meet. Yet it was littered with papers, and seemed as if no one had come to visit for ages. Against the wall was a large stereo system, a shelf stacked high with classic records and artists. No TV was in the room, and as far as she could see there was none in the house.   
Bookshelves covered the other walls in the living room, stuffed with books to overflowing. It reminded her of Dais's place, the books and paper's scattered about the room. With a chuckle, Briar had a thought of Bluue as Dais's mother. “Such nonsense.” she chortled, looking about the living room nervously.   
She stood in the corner of the room for a few minutes, trying to find some place to sit down and wait. Nervous as can be, Briar eventually just decided to continue standing in the same place awkwardly. Moments passed, until the sound of the door knob turning drew her attention. Pushing the door aside, her hands full with two grocery bags, Bluue walked into her living room. “Forgive me dear,” a smile broke over her face as she looked at Briar. “I was hungry this morning and realized there was nothing in the house to eat. Was out getting food when you arrived.” Handing one of the bags to Briar, she walked into the kitchen, motioning for Briar to do the same.   
Once again, Briar was amazed by the state of the apartment. The kitchen shone like brand new, polished marble counter tops sparkled alongside the metal cabinets that lined the walls. A large gleaming steel refrigerator sat next to the counters, doors on both sides to open as the fridge and the freezer. Bluue was at the latter at the moment, putting away some pints of ice cream. With a smile she showed one of the pints to Briar, face a bit red as she explained.   
“My one vice.” she chuckled. “Ben and Jerry's Chunky Munky. Can not seem to get enough of it.” After unloading another two pints, she closed the door and began to load the fridge. Looking at Briar over her shoulder, she motioned to the bag in Briar's motionless hands.   
“Those are not going to put themselves away dear.” Blinking twice, Briar moved forward to the fridge. Setting the bag down on the floor, she reached in and began to pull out the groceries inside. Broccoli came out followed by cheese and slices of ham, and Briar handed them off to Bluue.   
After a few moments, they had put away all the groceries and tossed the bags in the trash. Moaning a bit as she stood, Bluue sighed. “Know how you know you are getting older dear?” she asked, stretching her back a bit to work out the kinks.  
“No.” Briar answered, shutting the door to the refrigerator as she too stood.   
“Everything hurts, and if it doesn't hurt, it did not work in the first place.” Laughing, Bluue looked about the room. “Ah!” she clapped her hands together, smiling. “Would you care for a cup of tea and a ham sandwich?”   
******************  
Settled in a chair, a warm cup of tea in front of her, Briar chatted with Bluue. It was idle chatter, nothing really important. The weather, the food, her apartment, such things one talks about while trying to skirt about a situation. Briar pressed the lip of the cup to her mouth, breathing in the aroma of the tea. It smelt of black licorice and sugar. The wisps of vapor coming off the liquid curled about her nose and teased her with the promise of its taste. Slowly, she sipped at it, relishing the taste as it pourd down her throat.   
So engrossed in the tea, Briar did not notice as Bluue tried to gain her attention. Once more, Bluue cleared her throat and this time she succeeded in attracting her attention.   
“Oh, sorry.” Briar looked at the tea in her hand.  
“Dear, whats on your mind?” Settling her teacup into the saucer with a clink Bluue sat up. When Briar did not speak up, she sighed. “As much as I enjoy your company, I know you did not come here for the engrossing conversation.”   
Swallowing another sip of tea, Briar looked over at the window. “I....I came here to thank you for the medicine.” Again she put the cup to her mouth and took another swallow.  
“It was no big deal, darling. I was not the most understanding person when you came to me that day.” she placed a hand on Briar's. “How is dear Dais?”

 

Briar looked down at the hand that had slid over hers, squeezing it lightly in the way one would do to a troubled friend. A smile came to her face, and she lightly squeezed back. “Haha, very well I think.” A bit of a blush came over her face as she thought back to the night before.   
Silently, Bluue raised one eyebrow and pursed her lips slightly. There was a question burning on her lips, one she had been dying to ask since she had seen Briar that night in the sewer. Shaking her head slightly, she snorted to herself. Now was not the time to ask such selfish things. There was time later.   
Chuckling into the cup of tea in her hand, Briar's attention was caught by Bluue and her expectant expression. “What?” she blushed further, face heating up as her cheeks turned a harsh red.   
“Oh nothing dear. Just noticing that you turn an awfully unnatural shade when Dais is mentioned. Anything in particular happen with our dear sewer man?” She sat the tea down, the cup giving a small clink as it hit the table. “I assume by your presence that he is well enough for you to leave his bedside.”  
“All thanks to you Bluue.” she smiled. “That medication worked wonders. It left him with a bad taste in his mouth, but it worked.”  
“I am still so sorry about how I acted before. When you came to see me I panicked. Honestly, the moment that sewer grate closed behind you and him that night in the rain I thought that I was never going to see you again.” Slowly she stirred the tea in her cup, moving the metal spoon nervously. “It was terrible of me, but I sort of wished I would never see you again. I did not want to face what I....my team and I had done to him.”  
Confused and slightly saddened by the grief she saw in Bluue's eyes, Briar held her tongue and let her continue. Still stirring the tea, Bluue looked everywhere but at Briar. “It was done out of the best intentions! We had nothing but hope that the research would be used for good, though we all knew we were only fooling ourselves. As he grew there were many times I wished that he would die as the others did. That he would not have to live with what we were making him. The only assurance came from the promise that his would be an automaton. Something that only thought on the most basic level, only about survival and rage. That is all he was supposed to be!” With a slam her fist hit the table, tears welling in her eyes. “All of this time we comforted ourselves with that knowledge. That the lost child had died that night in the sewers, that he was barely a child to begin with. A robot we would have set loose on the world once he had grown. Everyone of us was relieved. After Dais none of the experiments worked, something we all silently prayed for.”   
Now her hand no longer even touched the spoon, it sat lifeless in the cup. Her eyes looked directly at Briar. It was almost as if she was trying to see something inside of her eyes that would absolve her of her sins. Finding nothing but confusion there Bluue ranted on. “All of the other experiments failed! Eventually they shut down the project, and my team was reassigned. Some of them committed suicide, the others just drank themselves to death. I am the only one left of the people who sinned against that boy. I had swallowed the guilt, and moved on. Life was fine, I climbed to the top of the ladder, made something of myself. Of course along the way I went through six husbands, but I made my way to the top!”  
Again her fist hit the table, slamming over and over. “That was until you and him showed up that night. Until I saw his face everything was ok! Once I saw that damnable face my entire world shattered and I was choking on my guilt! So I did what the cold bitch of a scientist I have become would do and stuck him up for experiments! Then you came and showed me EXACTLY what I had done. It was worse than I could have ever imagined. This CURSE I had placed on him!” Her green eyes had finally held back more than they could hold and the tears ran down her cheeks.   
It made Briar uncomfortable to see this older woman crying. For the small amount of time she had known Bluue Briar had come to see her as some sort of impenetrable wall of steel. Yet here was the woman of steel, shattered on the table as if made only of glass.   
Sobbing, she took the younger woman's hands and clasped them tightly. “All of it came back. After you showed him to me, after he spoke those words, my heart broke. I created him. If it was not for me, he would have never become like this, Never had to live beneath the world and stay in the shadows. At night, before I sleep, I see him as he could have been. A bright young man with endless potential, sometimes he is married with kids. Happy and living his life. Living it without claws and and eyes that haunt the night. Without a smile that would rival a sharks and without worry. Yet I know as soon as I wake, that baby that I cared for so much is a damned man living in squalor beneath my feet! I am so sorry, so so sorry.” Her hands let go of Briar's and came to her own face, hiding her tears.   
Silently, she sobbed into her hands, not even noticing as Briar came behind her and wrapped her arms about her. Bluue lifted her head from the table, not used to the affection of someone else. Silently, Briar hugged her hard. Letting her cry it all out, she whispered to her.  
“He is not as damned as you think. If anything you made him into the most unique person on earth. That man you see in your dreams is only that, Dais is who he is. Yet that man is wonderful, kind and caring. His intelligence is amazing, and his heart is as big as his IQ. Bluue, you did not create a monster, you created a man.”   
All of this was repeated as Briar continued to hold the older woman as she cried out ten years of repressed emotions. The light faded in the sky, and the stars began to slowly glow from the darkness they were engulfed by. Briar and Bluue continued their conversation as the night grew and the stars flickered.


	31. And the World Keeps on Spining

Stepping as lightly as she could, Briar crept into the sewer and tried to not wake the man she assumed to be sleeping. A hard edged cough behind her as she moved into the bedroom let her know that her plan had failed. Swallowing hard, she turned around to come face to face with a pale white bare chest.   
“Where have you been?” he asked, voice tight and almost cracked.   
“I was out visiting a friend.” Briar countered, not wanting to tell Dais who exactly she had been to see. As far as she could tell every time she brought up Bluue, Dais would become angry and try to change the subject. This was something she did not blame him for, as the only thing Dais knew about Bluue was that she had been one of the people to create him. As far as he was concerned she could go to hell and burn there for eternity. A sentiment that he was very vocal about when the subject was breached.  
“Oh. Well then could you please alert me when you are going to be out for such long intervals. I thought that perhaps something had happened to you. Waking up this afternoon to you being gone, my mind went straight to all the horrible things that could have happened.” He wiped at his eyes tiredly using the back of his hand. “God, that seems a slight bit morbid doesn't it?”   
Smiling, Briar wrapped her arms about his waist and pulled herself close to him. “No worries Dais. For today I was in a nice neighborhood.” One large arm came about her, and held her close.  
“Good, god knows what I would do without you.” he sighed, bending close to her and kissing the top of her head.   
Looking up, Briar kissed him lightly, pulling on his shoulders down. Lips locked, they embraced for a few moments. It was Briar who finally broke the kiss, pulling on his arm with a smile.   
“It has been a long day, but I think I have enough energy left for some fun.” she grinned at him, her coy hint was met with a light chuckle. With a sweep of his hand he tore his arm from her hand and picked her up. Cradling her in his arms, he ran and jumped onto the bed as hard as he could. For a moment they seemed to float above the pile of pillows and quilts, only to have everything speed up as they hit the bed. Quilts and pillows flew into the air, and Dais tucked Briar closer to his chest to protect her from the fall. With a shriek Briar fell out of his arms as Dais was tossed on his side. Laughing, Dais grabbed her and held her tight.   
She smacked him on the chest playfully. “Dais! Are you insane?” she laughed, face flushed.   
“Only when I am with you darling.” he smiled, capturing her lips once more. Grabbing onto one of the blankets left on the bed, Dais flipped it over themselves as he rolled over.   
A giggle escaped from Briar as they settled beneath the cover.   
************************  
They lay tangled together, both breathing hard. Dais had his arm wrapped about her waist, kissing her back lightly. With a contented sigh, she turned herself around to face him.   
“Mmm...so tired.” she mumbled, snuggling into his chest.   
He smiled lightly, eyes softening at the sight of her dozing so near to him. “Is this what couple's do?” As he stroked her arm, Dais spoke softly.   
With a start, Briar woke from her doze. “ Wait....a couple?” She sat up slightly, hair falling to the side as she set herself up on one arm. “Do you think....that we.....that we are a couple?”  
A blush crossed Dais's face, and he looked away from her. “Of course not, I was just asking if that is something that normal....I mean we are definitely not a coup...” he trailed off and swallowed hard. Still not looking at her, he went on. “Well, why can't we be a couple?”  
Now it was Briar's turn to blush. “I never considered it really.....” she trailed off. Trying not to look Dais in the eye she realized that this was a conversation she should have expected.  
“I mean, what we have is fun and all Dais, but if we get together and break up it will be impossible to get what we had back. I really really like what we have right now.....” With every word she said Briar knew she was beginning to sound more and more horrible.  
“Briar, look at me.” Dais touched her chin gently, and brought her eyes to meet his. “I love you, I really do. You are the only thing in this world that means anything to me. All of this, at anytime, could completely disappear if I only had you.”   
Her eyes misted over a bit, and she bit her lip. “But if things go south, what will we do?”   
“Fate is a fickle mistress my love, but we must heed her call. If things go south they go south, but if you never try how will you know what we could have had?”  
He waited a few moments for her to fill the silence, her eyes glassy and looking down at her arm with desperate intent. “Briar, would you be my......” he stopped, eyes narrowing as he tried to think of the word. It escaped him and for a few minutes he grasped at something that eluded his mind.  
“What is that damn word?” he finally, sighed. Looking over he saw Briar laughing to herself, and he growled lightly. “Hey, some slack is in order!This is the first time I have ever done something like this.” he crossed his arms, letting go of Briar's chin.   
Still giggling, Briar kissed his cheek. “It is cute when you can not find the words.” With a smile she kissed him lightly. “Yes I will be your girlfriend.”   
A smile lit across Dais's mouth, and hugged her tightly. “Happy days!” Sealing their new romance, he kissed her hard.   
Large smiles were on their faces as they rested together, tangled together as lovers are oft to do. Again Dais held her in his arms, her back settled perfectly into the shape of his side. For the first time he marveled at how perfectly she fit against him, as if she was made for him. Briar had already fallen asleep, the light rise and fall of her chest showing him that she was safely somewhere else. He kissed the back of her neck, as gentle as a passing wind before he too closed his eyes.   
“I love you.” he whispered, letting the darkness take him once more.


	32. A Single Night

He awoke to a short moan, clearly indicating that something was wrong. Not that it had not been like that everyday for over a month. Everyday Briar got up feeling nauseous, and light headed. Fearing she caught the cold, Dais had insisted she stay in bed under the warm covers, but when had that woman ever listened to him before? Never, that’s when, and it seemed that she was not going to start now.  
Turning over, he saw her looking at him. Long ago her hair had grown back out, revealing the blond beneath that fake color she had once adored. Smiling he brushed it away with one hand, still unable to believe this woman had given herself to him so willingly. He must have done something good for the gods to grant him such a perfect creature. Everything was perfect that morning, that was until Briar ran from the room covering her mouth.  
In a small back corridor there sat a small manhole cover, one pushed it over to the side to get to the large hole that lead to the sewer pipes below. This was Dais's makeshift toilet, and Briar was making good use of it lately. Throwing the manhole cover off in a moment, she leaned over the whole and emptied her guts. Retching into the hole in the concrete had gotten to be something normal, as she had been doing it every morning for over a month. It was mid December, and Briar was prone to colds, so she did not worry. Well maybe a little. She had a sneaking impression of what was ailing her, but she did not want to consider it. Spitting the last of it from her mouth, Briar heard Dais enter the room. She did not move from her spot, her stomach cramping from the sickness as she hovered over the hole in the floor.  
"Briar, you need to see someone. That cold has gone on longer than it should." his voice sounded worried as he leaned up against the doorway. "You might have pneumonia, or some sort of cold. The gods only know what you may have caught down here. There are roaches and rats and other vermin of the night. For all we know one of those things might be carrying the plague!"  
Groaning in response, Briar turned to see him holding one of the broken tea cups with water in it. "I will see one soon. Just not yet Dais." she argued, knowing that if this lasted any longer he would drag her to the surface with a note pinned on her chest and leave her at the nearest clinic.  
He nodded, not believing her. If there was anything that bugged him about her beyond belief it was her blatant disregard for her own health. All he asked was that she stay in bed and rest up under the warmth of his eight blanket shield from the cold. Yet she took every opportunity to get up and walk around, something he always scolded her for. His room was warm, yes. At least warmer than the other parts of the sewer at this time of year. It was because of a large insulated heating pipe that ran through the top of his section of the underground. During the summer it was left off, but once winter hit it was turned on. The heat filling his rooms would make it comfortable enough to move about in the cold. Yet, it was still cold enough for someone with a sickness to get even sicker. Thus his slight annoyance at the woman before him.   
She got up slowly, first getting to her knees and standing from there. Each movement seemed to hurt as she shook off the pain from the vomiting and crossed the room to take the glass of water. Swishing it around in her mouth for a moment, Briar spit it out. It did not do much as the lingering taste of vomit was still there, but now it was at a tolerable level. Dais took the cup and placed a quick kiss on her lips trying his damnedest not to flinch at the smell of the vomit still there. Grabbing her arm, he lead her to the other room and back to the bed.  
"Stay." he waggled a finger at her jokingly. She responded by biting at the large claw shoved in her face with a small grin on her face. The man laughed lightly, turning to leave for a day of continuing his research into things unknown. He stopped short as something held him back, almost a weight anchored him to the spot. Looking back he saw her hand wrapped around his wrist, gripping him tightly as she stared at him.  
"Stay." Briar smiled at him.  
"I can not, I must work." Softly, he set her on the bed and tossed a few covers over her. Dais turned again, having freed himself from her for the moment. Walking forward a bit, he heard her get off the bed and walk after him. Now slightly annoyed he turned to her a light growl in his voice. "Do you wish to catch your death out here? Stay in the bed where it is warm please."  
A sly grin spread itself across Briar's features. "I know something that makes the covers even warmer." She grabbed Dais's face and kissed him, hands on both sides of his head as she pulled him closer. All the while leading him back to their bed.  
"Why you little minx." Dais laughed. With a small roar, he pounced on her, sending her sprawling onto the covers.  
*******************  
They pulled away from each other, the one once again becoming two. Breathing heavily Dais lay against Briar, a stray dread lock falling from his head and over her arm. He moved slightly, running one clawed hand down her stomach lightly as she smiled at him with her eyes closed. For a while that’s all they did, Dais lay against her staring at his hand running over her skin as she smiled in that satisfied way one does when they are tired and fully sated. Dais looked at her and smiled at her beauty. A moment later the smile on his face disappeared, replaced by confusion. "Briar, has your stomach gotten larger?"  
With a gasp Briar sat up. There was somethings you never say to a woman and that was one of them! She knew Dais did not have a lot of experience with the right things to say to woman and the like but that he would say such a thing to her was kind of hurtful. About to tell him that you should not say these things, she saw the concerned look on his face. That was when she looked down and saw the truth. Just above her navel, the once slightly rounded stomach had become rounder and distended slightly. It was barely noticeable unless you looked at it from above, but Dais had noticed it quickly. "What the hell?" she muttered, running her hand over the bump herself.  
Sitting her up, Dais pulled himself up from the bed. Slipping back into his pants; but not before getting a teasing whistle as Briar caught a glimpse at that toned ass of his, he grabbed her clothes. He slid back onto the bed and handed her the clothing. Brushing her hair back from her forehead, Dais kissed her lightly on the head.  
"Briar please. That is not a good sign. Having this cold, the vomiting and nausea, and the distended abdomen are not something we can ignore. This has gone on far to long. I am begging you darling, go see a doctor." The earnest tone and worry in his voice made her nod.   
“Fine. I will go.” Briar would not say it, but she was worried herself. She would go see Bluue, and find out why she had been so sick these last few months. Dressing quickly so as to avoid the cold that leaked into the room despite the heating pipe, she kissed Dais on the cheek and left.   
He followed her to the main entrance to his lair, holding her hand the entire time. For over a month now she had been his “girlfriend” a word Dais was quite fascinated with. The use of both such simple words that each mean something different, mixed together meant something so much. At least to him. Briar tugged on his hand a bit, as he had slowed down in his musings of wordplay. Dais Smiled at her warmly, loving the feel of her tiny hand in the palm of his large claw. Before he knew it, they had reached the curtain that separated his world from the dank tunnels outside it. With a small squeeze on his hand, Briar smiled nervously at him before she disappeared beyond the curtain. Once she was gone, Dais moved back into their bedroom slowly. There he sat on the bed; alone.   
Letting his shoulders slump, he tried to think of all the good things that it might be. It could be a simple cold that was extended by the living conditions they faced, or some sort of flu. Yeah, it could simply be the flu. Some of his books mentioned this flu, and he knew some of the symptoms by heart.  
He tried not to imagine all of the horrible things it might be, the images of the rats and bugs carrying some sort of unknown virus he was immune to running about his mind. Most of all he tried not to think of it being the worst possible solution. All of the symptoms were adding up, and the solution was not one he was ready for. He was not ready for it in the slightest. Falling backwards he groaned at no in particular. "Gods, let it be the cold."


	33. Simple Math

Brushing the dirt and cobwebs that stuck to her dress, she tried her best not to look as homeless as usual. Looking to see that traffic had come to a complete stop, Briar worked her way through the maze of vehicles to the doors of Recom Tech. Walking across the crowded street, Briar realized it must be mid day. Tons of people milled around the sidewalk, no one caring that a young girl dressed in too many layers of clothing had crawled out of a grate in the ground. That was one of the many reasons she loved the city; it allowed you to do pretty much what you wanted because it had its own things to do. Lives to live and places to be, it did not give a damn what you did with your life and what places you saw in it.   
Nodding to Larry, the security guard on duty, Briar pulled the all access pass Bluue had given her on one of her last visits to get into the elevator. The doors opened, and once more she got into the elevator that only had one stop. Up and up it went, going far to slow for Briar's liking. Going up to the top floor, Briar felt her stomach drop for something like the fifth time in the last ten minutes. "Perhaps I am a little malnourished. Not enough meat or something." That had to be it. You could not just stop eating meat all of a sudden. Vegetarian's and Vegan's had to take supplements to make up for the lack of protein. Briar herself had seen those pictures of children in Africa and other places that had the distended stomachs because of the lack of meat and protein of any kind. It had to be just a case of lacking protein, she tried to convince herself. Yet Dais brought meat whenever he could. She imagined that most of the meat he came across was rotten and not suitable to eat. A bad thought rang through her head. Seems like a little too much "meat" to me. Gasping, Briar looked down at her stomach. Putting her hands down; caressing the small bump, she muttered under her breath. "Please be the cold." 

************************

Silvia Bluue walked into her office, humming a song to herself. It was some odd tune she had stuck in her head as of late. Yet, she had lots to sing about that day. As of that day her retirement was a year closer. That thought alone could last her for the rest of her working career. Although she loved working, things in the science world had begun to wear on her fast. Perhaps it was her age but now she looked forward to the end of her career. Perhaps it was age, or perhaps and more than likely, was the emergence of two young people into her life. The mere fact that Briar had brought Dais back into her life after over a decade had made her wish more than ever to end her employment was a scientist. Still mulling on this fact, Bluue walked to the light switch located on her farthest wall. Turning on the light in the office, she was startled to see Briar there. She had not seen the young woman for a few months, and had began to fear she would never see her again.  
"Oh! Briar love, I did not see you there dear." she smiled warmly, only to be greeted by a hollow smirk. "Briar?" concern was thick in her voice. The girl looked as if she had been crying, and Bluue's heart leapt into her throat at the thought. Bluue moved forward to where the young girl sat on the edge of her desk. Her eyes were red, and she looked pale. At this she got as close as she could , putting her hand on the younger woman’s forehead. "My god darling, are you okay?"  
Briar mumbled something incoherent to her, and threw her arms about the older woman. With surprise, Bluue patted her on the back as she began to cry. Sobbing like a child, she clung to Bluue wanting some sort of comfort. "Help me Bluue. Please help. I am sick and I don't want to be sick anymore."  
An hour later, the lab tests set aside for the moment as they shared cups of hot chamomile tea, Bluue and Briar discussed trivial things. The idle talk had helped to calm Briar down.  
"I am so happy to hear that you two are getting along so well dear." Bluue clapped her hands happily. " I was so worried about him when you came to me last time. Again I am so sorry about the whole thing with the medicine. I should not have been that rude to you."  
"You need to stop apologizing for that. It is fine, in the end you helped more than you hurt us. Anyways, we are getting along so well now that I set him straight. That was one hell of a funk he got himself into." Briar laughed lightly.  
"I bet it was. Those kind of things are traumatic." Bluue leaned forward slightly. "You know, you never once told me how you got him to come to his senses. I admit I am really, really interested in how you did it. Do tell."  
At this Briar laughed wholeheartedly. "You would not believe me."  
"Try me." was the answer.  
"I cold cocked him right in the jaw. Slammed my fist into his face."  
The astonished look on Bluue's face did not fade. Suddenly she burst out laughing. “You punched him?” she laughed, voice high and incredulous.   
“Oh yeah.” Briar smiled, raising her fist. “Hit him with my best right hook.” she laughed again, her chest beginning to hurt from all the laughter.   
“Briar Gantz, I am getting scared of this violent side of you.” Bluue faked a straight face, trying to stifle her laughter. “First you slap me, then punch poor Dais in the face. Next thing you know you are going to stab someone.” No matter how she tried, Bluue could not hold back her laughter. They shared in a good laugh, then both settled into silence.  
“So is there something you want to tell me?” Bluue cleared her throat, and stirred her tea slowly.  
Looking slightly confused Briar shrugged. “ Is there something you think I need to tell you?”  
“Oh, just like the fact that you have a crush on our resident sewer man.” she sipped at her tea, eyes smiling at Briar.  
Having just taken a drink of tea, Briar choked slightly. “WHAT?” she croaked out.   
“Come one dear, its written all over your face each time his name is mentioned. I have had quite a few husbands love. Its not really hard for me to recognize that look.” Setting her cup down, she looked Briar right in the face. Her eyes were serious. “Does Dais know of this little infatuation?”  
“Umm, yeah he does.” Briar stuttered, her face going red. “ Actually, he returns the feelings.” The heat of her blush spread across her face. “ He is the one who first told me how he felt.”   
Suddenly Briar's smile faded. “He says he loves me, Bluue. Dais is a good guy and all that, but I do not know if love is the right word for what this is.” Briar looked around the room, trying to shake off the uneasiness that had settled on her shoulders.   
With a small sigh, Bluue reached across the table and patted the younger woman's hand. “Do not let it get to you dear. Love is a beautiful and horrific thing, and liked most things in life it is best just to let it come. Nothing can stop it if it is true love, and in my personal opinion there is a lot worse you can do that our resident sewer man.” At this she winked at Briar.   
A scandalized laugh poured from Briar. “Oh my god! Bluue you pervy old woman!” She shook her head and said; “ You are right though, there is a lot worse I could do.” For one moment her thoughts flashed back to Adam and the monster he had become that night. Briar closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The memory still hurt, and Briar tried to not think of the man she had once loved. It was getting easier as time went on, and what was once a fresh and clear movie in her head had faded to a blurring and fading photograph.  
"So true my dear. Now are you ready to look at these results?" Her voice was cheery with a hint of uncertainty. The girl had come in asking to be tested for all sorts of colds and flues, but that did not seem to be what was wrong with her. Bluue had run her through all of them, taking samples and swabs and blood as needed. Whatever was plaguing Briar needed to be found. Though Bluue did not know the living conditions Dias lived in, she was sure that they were not suited for an ordinary human like Briar. God only knew what kind of diseases crawled along the walls of those pipes and may have found a way into the young woman she cared for.  
Nodding Briar steeled herself for the news. Bluue opened the folder and flipped through, her eyes analyzing the results with professional accuracy. "Sorry darling. No flu or cold. Though you are producing a large amount of..." her voice clipped off as her eyes grew wide.  
"What?" Briar asked, slightly panicked. Was it something worse than flu?  
“No. Briar love, you are producing a lot of hCG. Do you know what that is?” Bluue's face was serious and looked at Briar with concern.  
“Not a fucking clue. What the hell is wrong with me Bluue?”, she bit on her lip, trying not to cry again.   
" Okay, okay. God, how do I explain this. Well, how do I even ask this question?” A blush ran across Bluue's face, making her skin as red as her hair. “Umm, Briar. Have you and..umm Dais been intimate lately? I mean have you two been sleeping together?"  
Briar knew this was going somewhere, but her mind kept blocking that possibility off from her grasp. "Yes. Why?"  
"Have you been using any..." Bluue coughed, trying to word this correctly. "Any protection?"  
Finally all the bricks fell into place and Briar realized what Bluue was trying to tell her.  
"Bluue?" he voice was shaky. "Are you trying to tell me I'm pregnant?"  
Swallowing the lump that had become lodged in her throat, Bluue nodded. “Yes my dear. You are.”

Chapter Thirty Four To Bare a Soul   
Briar reeled backwards, the hard back of the chiar being the only thing that kept her from hitting the floor. “Oh my god, how could this happen?” She rubbed her temples, trying not to panic. From across the desk, Bluue looked at her with concern.   
“I am sorry, but that is what the results say. You are eight weeks along, two months to be exact. Not that science ever is.” she reached across the table, grasping Briar's hand in a show of comfort.  
Ripping her hand from the older woman's she kneaded the spot between her eyes, trying and failing to not lose her mind. “This can not be happening. I am only twenty for god's sake! Not to mention I am currently living in a SEWER with a genetic experiment gone right! How am I supposed to take care of a baby, I can barely take care of myself at the moment!” she kept talking, lips going faster as her brain tried to think everything through.   
“Briar love, there are always other options.” Bluue cleared her throat and looked at the papers in her hands in a vain attempt to look unfazed. In fact this news also surprised her. It had never occurred to her that Dais may one day produce offspring. Yet now that she thought about it, nothing in his DNA had been programed to not reproduce like normal. How could she and the others have overlooked this flaw? Had he been used as a weapon and his intended purposes, then he might have eventually even subconsciously given into the natural urge to mate. This held unknown consequences that no one in the lab or the powers that be had foreseen. Silently she thanked God that Dais had never been used that way, or they might have had an army of half weapons running around unchecked in foreign lands.  
Bluue was yanked from her contemplation of Dais and his natural needs by Briar and her unnatural tone of voice. She had been talking for so long and so fast that now her words blurred together in an unending sentence.   
“MYGODWHATWILLHAPPENTOMEHOWCANIGETTHETHINGSTHATTHISBABYNEEDSTOEVENLIVEDAYTODAYIHAVENOJOBANDNOREALHOMEANDTHEBABY'SDADISAMUTANTWITHCLAWSFORHANDS!” her voice was high pitched and Bluue could not listen to it for much longer without her ears beginning to bleed. Sighing, she picked up her pencil holder that sat between Briar and herself. Standing up, she adjusted her skirt and fixed her glasses. Then with a small pang of regret for she so loved this pencil holder, she threw it as hard as she could against the wall near her window.  
The shattering of the ceramic brought Briar to a stunned silence. With a small grunt, Bluue turned to her friend and spoke seriously.  
"My dear, this is important decision. If you keep this child then you must let me get what you need." she was met by a silent shake of the head. "I am a doctor Briar. If anyone knows what a growing child needs, it is me. Let me help." Bluue then sat back down and sighed. “If you choose the other options, then that is your choice. Just remember that this is not only your choice. Dais is that child's father and has a right to put in his two cents about what can be done.”  
Briar choked back a sob. Her mind was fuzzy with all the emotions running through it. On one hand she felt happy, amazingly happy that she could give Dais a child. The other hand was terrified. What was she going to do with a child? She had just barely turned twenty, and now she was carrying the child of a sewer dwelling humanoid. A very nice and gentle sewer dwelling humanoid mind you, but still something that would not be welcome in the world above. It was then that a single thought struck her quickly.  
"Bluue, is what Dais has...is...genetic?" When she was met with a vacant stare, Briar tried again. "Will the baby be... look like Dais?"  
"There is a very good chance that yes it will.” Bluue could not meet Briar's eyes. Somehow she felt somewhat responsible for Briar and Dais's new predicament. “We did not design him to reproduce,so the bet is wholly up in the air. Genetics are a grab bag as it is. Take me for example."  
She pointed to her face. “My father was a black haired olive skinned man, and my mother was a red haired pale woman. There was a chance that I could have been born with black hair and my mother's green eyes, or with red hair and my father's blue eyes. Yet I was born looking almost exactly with my mother's features. My brother on the other hand is a mixture of both of my parents. Black hair and green eyes. It is totally up to chance which parent the child will take after, if they even take after them at all. Sometimes recessive genes rise to the surface and the child will have the looks of a relative.”  
Seeing the look on Briar's face, she sighed once more and adjusted her glasses. Two fingers moved the nose piece up on her face. In her head she tried to restate her previous argument. Finally she decided to drop the explanation and offer a solution for the moment. "Eight months." Briar stared at her blankly. "Dais got his claws at eight months. They were the first thing to change. The month after that he grew his teeth and his eyes changed color. It all happened in the final stages of gestation. That will be when we can determine if the child will be anything like Dais. Yet I am warning you Briar, even then we might miss something. We can not determine eye color from a sonogram, nor can we see skin color or anything else internal. Also, some of the similarities might not appear until puberty or years down the road. Like I said before, genetics are a grab bag and anything can happen. Even more so with twisted and morphed DNA like Dais's. Waiting eight months is the best option at this point, if you plan to keep the child that is. Eight month's. Till then nothing can be determined."  
“You keep saying “if”. Stop saying if. I am keeping the baby.” Briar did not look reassured, but she seemed determined at the moment to go through with the whole thing. "Eight months then. We will wait."


	34. God Bless the Child

Silently, she stood at the door to Dais's study. Staring at the curtains, she was trying to figure out what to do. Never before had this door to Dais's lair seem so forbidding and so inviting at the same time. Briar could hear him singing something to himself as he worked, a habit he had resumed once he was comfortable with her presence nearby. It was a small tune, probably a mash-up of all the songs he had recently heard on their small radio. It did not last very long, nor could it maintain a signal for more than an hour but it brought music into the place and that was something Dais had never had before. There she stood at the door. Listening to Dais sing to himself as she tried to make her feet move. The last thing she wanted to do was walk into that room and tell Dais what Bluue had told her.   
Yet she had to tell him, he needed to know. This was something any father needed to know, but how was he going to react to this? Neither of them had put any thought into this and had recklessly ignored the simple mathematics of life. One plus one equals two. How stupid a thing to forget. Yet the world seemed to forget the equation easily.   
The hardest part was going to be to explain to Dais how he was going to be a father. He already thought himself to be a cursed being, yet to add to him the burden of rearing a child that may be burdened with his curse as well. Briar could already hear his heart breaking. No she could not burden him with this, he had already taken too many blows as it was. No one deserved such a twisted fate.  
She had to tell him though. They had created something together, something that she already knew was going to be the most beautiful thing either of them would ever create. Nothing in their entire lives would be more amazing than this. Briar needed his help, she was scared. Terrified of what this all meant.  
Inside of her, at that moment something was growing, something that she would love and tend to even if its father wanted nothing to do with it. Steeling herself, she stepped through the curtain. Dais was at his work table, singing to himself as he worked. He looked up at her with a small set of makeshift glasses on his face. "Hello! How did the visit to the doctor go?" he grinned a very toothy smile. The look soon passed as he saw the look on her face.  
Briar walked to him, legs wobbling as she got nearer. Hauling himself up from his seat, Dais grabbed her arm to lead her down to the chair. She accepted, fiddling with her hands as she tried to come up with the words. Dais spoke before her, his long shadow looming above.  
"Is it pneumonia?" his voice sounded chilled and stretched. Looking up she was startled. Briar had forgot that suspicion was still in the air. She smiled at him and shook her head.  
"I am going to be sick longer than any flu or cold will last Dais." she grinned forcefully. Dais dropped to her side, his head level with hers. One clawed hand reached out and pulled her face up to meet his.  
"What is this illness Briar?" his voice was a purr, a symphony of worry and love. How she loved to hear it.  
Finally she swallowed the lump in her throat, and faced him. "Dais, there is a child..." At those words Dais drew back, his face contorted in sadness.  
"A child...my child?" he looked at her, eyes unreadable.  
She nodded, looking at him with fire in her eyes. Even if he refused her now, she would raise the child. It had not asked to be born.   
"I can not... a child... I'm going to be a father?" he began pacing, his clawed hands swishing through the air. "This is impossible...I mean how did this happen?"  
A smile pulled at the edges of Briar's face. Seeing the look on Briar's face, he countered the argument he knew was coming. "I know HOW it happened, I just don't... a child. I'm going to be a father."  
Briar watched transfixed as he crossed from happy to sad to irate then back to happy as he paced. One could see the mental battle going on in his head as he walked and talked to no one in particular."A child... are they sure?" he turned to her, eyes wide and confused.  
Nodding Briar looked him in the face. Staring at the father of her child as if this was nothing, that she was prepared for this. "Yes. I am definitely pregnant. After Bluue saw the results we went in for an ultrasound. There is a child, our child."  
Dais's eyes narrowed as he recalled the name she used. "Bluue? The scientist woman from before? Why would you go to her with this?"  
"She offered to help us, plus any other doctor would have charged me money for the visit. We don't have any money, so this is really the only option we have."  
Spinning from her, Dais stormed to the table beginning to pace once more. Fury was evident in his voice as he muttered and cursed. "Briar, that woman is responsible for this!" he moved his hand to indicate his form. "Now that she knows, the damn witch will probably come down here and cut the child from your womb so she can use it as a replacement..." His eyes grew wide as something clicked in his brain. "Me." The words left his mouth almost as if they had to force themselves from his lips.  
Briar had been wondering when the question of the child's inheritance from its father would dawn on the man before her. Now that it had, she could not lie to him, even if it would comfort his already troubled mind. Slipping closer to her, Dais knelt at the side of the chair, hands grasping the arm and back desperately.  
"Briar." he called to her, voice choked with emotion. "Briar, is this...is what I am going to be passed down to the little one?"  
She looked up at him, eyes watering slightly. "It is a possibility." Briar never got a chance to explain, as Dais flung himself off of the chair and was across the room before she could utter another word. His back facing her, Dais stared at the cement wall before him.  
"A possibility?" He looked over his shoulder, face now a mask of indifference. "How do you feel about that Briar? Knowing that what is in your womb may turn out like me, it must be very frightening."  
The chair scraped as she pulled herself from it. Taking one or two steps forward Briar decided she was going to explain the situation to him as calmly as possible.  
"Your right dais, it does scare me." At his indignant snort, she explained. "not because it carries your blood, that has nothing to do with the fear Dais. Not a fucking thing. It is because I have never had a child before, and this whole situation scares the piss out of me. For the next few months, another life will be growing here," She placed her hands on the small bulge of her stomach. "and for eighteen years after that everything this kid does is on my head. Everything. Every bump and bruise, every dumb ass stunt they pull as a teenager. Everything will be on me."  
She looked at Dais, eyes calm and clear. "And if you choose to be a part of their life, you share the same responsibility as I do. We created something great Dais, greater than you or I could ever hope to be. I always wanted a family. Adam and I tried for years, but I guess we were never meant to have a child..."  
Briar was once again interrupted by Dais. Only this time his voice was dark and jealous. "You tried to have a child...how great. I hope you two will be very happy with my child."  
"Dais, that is uncalled for." Reasoning with the emotionally fueled man before her was useless. "Don't ever say something like that ever again! The bastard stabbed me for fucks sake! I don't have the same feelings for Adam as before. Those are long gone now... plus I would never..."  
Spinning on her, Dais pointed one clawed finger at her. His face was twisted and full of rage. "Just how IS it you felt for him Briar? Did you love him?" Briar did not answer, just stared at the raging man before her. "How come you have never told me you love me? Is is because of the way I am? Is it because you still live that bastard of a man? Why do you not feel the same for me as I do you Briar?"  
Speechless Briar tried to force her mind to work fast on the solution to the problem. Nothing came up, and she had a feeling nothing would. "Dais, it is complicated thing for me to say right now..I can not tell you something I don't..."  
"Don't what Briar? Don't believe,don't know, don't understand?" he turned from her, and sighed. Both shoulders sagged and the rage left his voice, replaced by defeat. "Or don't. Just don't. If you do not love me Briar, then just say so."  
She gripped his arm, pulling him closer to her. "Dais, I feel..something for you. As of right now I do not know what it is. Maybe it is love, but this feeling is different from what I felt with Adam. So much different. Just allow me time to figure it out. That is all I ask of you."  
The plea got no reaction from Dais, who just stared off at the wall. Rubbing his arm, Briar waited for something, anything. Finally he spoke. "If the child is normal, then you must leave."  
Briar sputtered at the demand. "No! Dais, why are you always trying so damn hard to force me away! After all the bullshit we have gone through you are always trying to make me leave! I won't have it anymore, the child and I will stay where you are!"  
"What is it that this place has to offer an infant?" he roared, swinging his arm about the room. "It is deathly cold here, there is always little to no food, no light in which to play and no friends with which to interact! A childhood down here is hell! Trust me. I have been through one in this very place, and I will NEVER put any child of mine through that!" he turned to her, the rage still in his eyes. "If the child is normal, you shall take it and leave me be. In the case it is born like me, then we shall decide on that situation later. That is how it is going to be."  
Raising her hand, Briar slapped Dais right across the face. "You sound just like Adam. He always demanded stuff of me, and I have had enough of it. If you ever command me like I am some...some pet of yours again you will regret ever meeting me."  
"I already do." Dais snarled.  
"Well, then. “Briar stiffened. “That is too bad. We are a part of your life now, and you will just have to deal with it. The two of us will continue this conversation when you have decided to act like a fucking adult. Till then," she crossed the room and went through the curtains, leaving Dais to his own devices. "don't even think about talking to me."  
Staring at the curtain with an almost shocked face, Dais growled. "Damn woman." he cursed, slipping from the room into the darkness of the tunnels beyond.


	35. Fears Hold

Above his head, the sky had never been clearer. The snow that had mercilessly been falling for days had stopped as if some switch had been flipped. Dais hated it, feeling that the weather outside should reflect his mood and inner battle. He is a poet that way, and Dais knew it was foolish to think that his mood could be matched by the weather outside. Things did not happen like that in real life. Nothing revealed your mood to others except you. At this moment, his mood was dark and dreary.  
To him to mere thought of having a child was a possibility he had never considered. Sitting cross legged on the roof of some building, his torso twisted to rest against the shed set up near the ledge. Both legs dangled over the edge, he swore loudly. "Fuck it all!"  
Now of all times, this had to happen to him? Briar was with child, his child. Something of such luck should happen to other men, not one such as himself. Surely such things only happened in fairy tales, didn't they?  
"We just got together." he breathed out, talking to no one, that was unless the stray pigeon pecking some brown spot on the ledge was listening. "I have never had a romance before, no relationships before Briar. Yet the moment I am given this..this gift, something goes wrong."  
Dais turned to the sky, waving one hand in the air. "Not that I am not...over joyed by the idea of fatherhood. I am, trust me. Too have a child, would be something I never thought would happen to me. Many things have been denied to me because of this," a hand motioned to his face. "Anything other than my books was utterly uncomfortably, something to be avoided. Yet I can not push her from me. Over these many months I have tried, gods how I have tried to make her leave. Each time I have pushed, she has needled her way back into my life. Something I never wanted in the first place! Yet now, I can not see myself living without her! What a nuisance!"  
"Without fail. She has pushed her way into my sanctuary, somehow making it so I can not even enjoy its solitude without thinking of how quiet it is that she is not chattering to herself. Tell me, what is this power she holds over me!" Dais yelled, making the pigeon fly off into the sky.  
"There is something, something in those green eyes that speaks to me. Such beautiful words. Something so close, I can not touch it. For I shall taint it. I have already tainted it." He looked out on the city, staring at the people moving beneath him. It did his soul some good to sit above the earth from time to time. Something about seeing all those people beneath him made everything he went through seem right. It was justified. Such a view was his and his alone, for others would not dare to sit on the ledge of such a building. Long ago he had learned a body such as his, was useful in the most unusual ways.  
"What to do about this child? I can not let her stay, it would be unreal to believe that she would stay below after the child is born. Also, if the child was born normal, it was only right that it live above for the world too see. It would not hide its face from them as its father did.  
With utter distaste, Dais picked up a stray chunk of the crumbling ledge and tossed it into the air as far from him as he could. "She thinks I am acting like a child? She is the one being difficult!" He puffed out his chest, arms wrapping themselves around him. There on the rooftop, Dais pouted. "Thinks I'm the one who needs to grow up does she? Well, I will show her grownup."  
He looked about, hopping down from the ledge, falling the fifty feet the other roof below. With snake like quickness he took off, running across the roof and leaping onto the other. Black cloak whipping past him, he slithered across the rooftops. Retracing his path from his resting place to his home. There was something he needed to get.   
*******************  
Claws tore into the concrete, making small holes as Dais pulled himself through a small pipe. For over an hour, he had been crawling along, pulling himself forward. Many years ago he had been able to slide himself along, but it had been many years since he had been there.  
Reaching the end of the tunnel, Dais lowered himself to the floor. Splashing in the water that lined the tunnel, he looked around for a moment to get his bearings, then once again took off. Claws pounding the cement, he sloshed through the water as it slowly rose. The once small stream now reached his knees, and was only getting deeper. Dais slowed, the weight of his cloak weighing him down.  
"Damn it!" he muttered, reaching up to the cloak. Tearing it off, he sped up shredding the cloak as he moved faster and faster. Swerving around a corner at his top speed, Dais let the last of the cloak fall to the water. It floated for a moment, then disappeared as the black consumed it.   
Feeling the biting sting of the cold, Dais stopped just as the tunnel widened into a large cavern. Now up to his waist, dais stared forward at the black lake before him. Nothing lived in here, nothing grew. It was too dark to support any life, and that was how Dais liked it. Taking a deep breath, Dais dove straight into the inky black of the tunnel.  
Water pushed his dreads above his head, floating them about him like some sort of mythic sea serpent. Arms at his sides, Dais pointed one foot straight down increasing the time of his descent. Long ago Dais had found this place. Something so far from everyone, where he could go to be alone. Well, more alone than he normally was. Not using the place since he was a child, he had long ago stashed all of his childhood possessions there. Now he had to find the one thing he knew he needed.  
Slowly he came to the pipe he needed. Angling himself, he propelled himself through the water. Shooting into the pipe, he swam forward, ever forward. His lungs began to scream for air, as they often did when he made this journey. For years he would reamin breathless at the top, trying to steal all the air in the world. Now his lungs held more air, but it still burned. Seeing the water lighten, he thrust upward. Bursting from water, he gulped the air. It was tangy with rust and some unidentifiable taste of something long rotted. Yet he drew it into himself as if there was nothing more wanted in the world. Both hands reached above where he floated on the water, grasping the ledge to haul himself onto. Body half hanging in the water, he panted back muscles clenching as he pulled himself up onto the ledge. This journey had always brought him to the brink of death, very nearly killing him twice in his youth. Pulling himself from the water, he collapsed against the entrance to the final tunnel. Shivering from the cold of the tunnel as well as the water soaking his skin, Dais tried to kick start his body heat. Rubbing his arms against his chest, he sighed.  
"Damn it. Forgot it was winter." he blew one sopping wet dread from his face, it having fallen from the tie he had placed most of them in. Standing up. He decided that moving was the only way to stop the cold from setting in, plus the tunnel he was about to enter was placed below a generator from some company above. It heated the entire tunnel as well as the concrete. He would get dry that way.  
The long twisting passage of the tunnel was dark as night, the darkness only lit from the few grates above. They broke through the black, lighting small bars against the damp concrete. It was beautiful in a macabre way. Almost whimsical, if your idea of a fairytale was one of dirt and grunge, lies and hardships. Which, as of the way the world was going, to many it was. Claws slapping the grimy floor of the tunnel Dais plodded along. His eyes never left the wall of the tunnel, roving each inch to find the niche in which he had stashed his stuff. Thanking god for his keen night vision, Dais saw the small hole before him. It was just up ahead, a small deep hole dug into the concrete. Reaching it, he settled himself on the floor. Having dug the niche himself as a small child, Dais was now much to big to reach it any other way than settling himself along the floor of the tunnel. One clawed hand wiped away the long deserted cobwebs, the other reaching into the hole.  
His long black claw pushed itself past old books, piles of long outgrown clothes, and discarded candle stubs. In the back, father than one could have reached without the long arms Dais possessed, sat a box. Hand curling about the left side of the box, he pulled it from it long standing hiding place. In the light of a single grate nearby, Dais saw the state of his treasured box. Its cardboard sides were warped and bent by water and age. The top had begun to rot in one corner, fraying and pulling back on itself. Lifting the top of the box, Dais found the exact thing he had been searching for wrapped in plastic wrap, safe from the effects of water and age.  
Smiling, he took the treasure, and stashed the box back into his secret place. Turning from the hole, he moved forward into the dark of the tunnel. All the while, the plastic package and the treasure it held clutched to his chest.


	36. A Happy Life

Waking to the sound of creaking pipes, Briar sat up from the piles of quilts she had piled over herself. For a moment she did not remember what had happened, and looked to her side for Dais. Finding him not beside her, she pulled the hoodie she was wearing around her body to hold off as much of the chill as she could. The creaking of the pipe grew louder as she stepped carefully toward the drapery covered door.  
"Dais?" she called softly, hoping that it was him. A few weeks ago she had walked into the study, to find herself face to face with a large homeless man. He had been searching for some food, and found his way into the tunnels by mistake. Briar had nearly had a heart attack, and was glad that Dais had been out foraging for something at the moment. God only knew what the man night have done had he ran into Dais, and Briar knew she did not want to find out.  
Nervously, she pulled the drapes back, and looked into the room. There on the ceiling, a large insulated pipe hung. It was something Dais had told her, that was a heating pipe for some factory close by. The pipe heated the three rooms he claimed as his. Now she looked up, and nearly screamed.  
There on top of the pipe, feet digging into the insulated plastic wrapped around it, was Dais. He was shivering, and dripping water on the floor some fifteen feet below him.  
"Dais!" Briar called, scared. "What in the hell are you doing up there?" From above her, he looked down, red eyes slightly glowing in the heat radiating from the pipe.  
"I got something for you!" Briar stared at him, not fully understanding why this man was hanging up above her, something in his arms.  
"Well, get down he..AAAAH!" she yelled as he leapt to the floor, landing before her. Regaining her senses, she stared at him angrily. That was until she got a good look at his face. Briar supressed a gasp as she took in the unstable state he was in. Both lips were bluish, his skin taking on a blue tint from the cold. Sopping wet dreads hung from his head, the water left on them trickling down his chest and back. Reaching out, she tugged his arm, pulling him into the other room.  
"Wha..!" he called out as she tossed him onto the bed, and bundled the covers over his shivering form.  
"What in the hell is wrong with you Dais? It is in the middle of fucking december, and you decide.." she threw more quilts on top of him. "to go swimming? Are you trying to kill yourself?" As she ranted and swore at him, Dais clutched the parcel tighter, and looked at her amused. It seems she had forgotten the whole incident earlier, and was back to being just plain Briar.  
No..that was not right. Dais stopped himself. She was no longer just plain Briar. Underneath the three layers of shirts under her sweatshirt there was a bump, one that would only get larger. There was his child. It was now Briar, and his child. Gods, how great it felt to say that. His child, his child, his child. Dais could die saying those words.  
Seeing the small smile pass over his face, Briar leaned in toward him. Hand going to his pale and cold forehead, she looked him in the eyes. "Hello? Dais!" He blinked and looked at her, startled. "I was talking to you. Did you even hear a word I said?" she sat next to him and sighed.  
"You stupid, stupid man. What in the hell was so important that you had to go and get soaked for?"  
Dais smiled, and pulled the package from his chest. Holding it out to her, he coughed lightly. "This is for the child."  
Slowly, Briar took it from his hands, and unwrapped it. Layer after layer of old holey plastic wrap came off, and once she reached the end, Briar was nearly in tears. There, amongst the warped and aged plastic sat a small and ripped teddy bear. One eye was missing, its nose torn as well. From one leg came stuffing, and the left ear was torn in half and hanging limp from the head.  
One of Dais's large claws came to rest on the small bear. "It was mine." He whispered, staring at the relic fondly. "It floated down here when I was a child, tossed into the trash by someone because of a few imperfections. He was my only friend, and I loved him."  
Briar smiled, hand clasped to her chest, the other settling ontop of the teddy bear right next to Dais's clawed one. "Dais, he is beautiful. The baby will love it." She leaned over, and kissed his forehead gently.  
"Thats not all, Briar." he pulled back, one claw gripping her chin and lifting it to meet his garnet gaze. She stared back at him, seeing something flash beneath those bloody pools he called eyes. "This, if the child is normal, will be me."  
Rolling her eyes at the fact that the man before her refused to drop the subject, she opened her mouth to speak. Dais cut her off, sighing. "Listen. I can not live above the surface. How I wish I could, Briar I wish more than anything I could. Yet, I dont think the world would understand me as well as you have come to. In fact, I thank the gods that I found you.." he smiled at her, teeth sharp and glistening. No matter how he tried, the smile would always hold a glint of danger. Briar smiled back, nodding.  
"The child does not deserve to spend its life hidden if it is normal. I will not see it, I refuse to see my child raised in darkness. This does not mean of course that I do not want to be a part of the child's life." Dais looked at Briar, willing her to understand his meaning. "If it is dictated that the child shall live above, then you must take the child into the world. I will remain here, and I will watch over them."  
At this Briar interjected, trying to get him to understand her. "Dais, how will you do that? A child needs a father, its important."  
Dais kissed her lips lightly, just barely brushing his against hers. Pulling back, he set his forehead against hers. "I will crawl through every tunnel, and swim through every pipe. On their first day of school, I will watch from the grate. Their first bike will never topple because I will hold it steady for them from the side of the street. At their graduation from secondary school I will sit on the roof of the building if I must. No matter, I WILL be there."  
He ran one clawed hand over the small lump that was her stomach. "I will be there Briar. Even if they never see me, I will be there." Dais's breath was choked with some unshed emotion. Closing her eyes tightly, she ran one hand through the dreads on his head and down his jaw.  
"We will decide such things later." she tossed the plastic sheeting to the ground near the bed, and held the teddy bear close to her heart. One finger played with the remaining ear, smiling at the shivering man before her. "None the less, the baby will love this. Thank you so much for this Dais." She smiled again, and kissed him lightly on the lips. The rest of the sentence hung in the air, unuttered. Briar was thanking him not only for the gift of the bear, but for the many things he had given her.  
Lifting one arm, Dais looked at her gently. Seeing the cue, she settled herself against his side, draping his long arm over her shoulders. Stretching slightly, she pulled some of the covers up on her self, tired once again. From beside her, she felt Dais settle in, his long body stretching out, head resting slightly against the pillows they used as a head board. For a few moments, neith of them spoke, and Briar was just drifting off into sleep when she heard his voice.  
"I must really go searching for more information on this pregnancy situation." Dais muttered, eyes closed. "Seems fascinating."  
Briar chuckled, remembering how her mother was when she was pregnant. "Oh, trust me. You are going to get a lot of information about it." At this she closed her eyes and said nothing more. Opening her eyes just a crack, she saw his garnet orbs looking at her confused.  
"Why does the way you say that concern me?"


	37. Believe Me When I Say

Dais rushed into the tunnels, arms carrying the things he had managed to scrounge up from amongst the dumpsters as well as the bags of food that Bluue had taken to leaving for them at the grate near Recom Tech.  
She was going to kill him. He knew it, as the usually volatile Briar had gotten to be even more explosive as the months wore on. He was late, and he knew she was going to kill him.  
Dais was not let down, as the second he entered the bedroom they shared, he had to duck the large book being chucked at him.  
"Where the fuck have you been?" Briar yelled, pointing the wooden handle of the mixing spoon she held at him. Dais sighed, putting down the food and the things he had found. He knew he had to be patient. Briar was pregnant. Very pregnant. Due in about two months, Briar sat next to the small fire pit, her stomach now swelled out past her breasts. Dais had brought in the food bags that Bluue had set for them, hoping she would not be too mad that he had taken off earlier that morning without a word.  
This plan did not work. Briar struggled to her feet, ankles swollen from the weight of the life she was carrying. "You take off this morning after you get some wild hair up your ass about the new book store across from the alley, and then come back and expect me not to be mad?" She waddled closer, back bent to handle the weight of the large child in her womb.  
Dais held a clawed hand to his eyes, gently rubbing them. "Please do not be upset. It is not healthy for the child..." He was interrupted by Briar's screech of disdain.  
"Do you know whats REALLY bad for the baby? Making me worry, making me upset, which then leads to me drinking the entire thing of water that's left! Then.." she put two hands on her hips, glaring at him. "I have to get up, on these swollen ankles and go to the bathroom not half an hour later! THAT is not good for the baby Dais!"  
Dais sighed, some one had replaced his loving and kind Briar and switched her with this hormonal powder keg.  
"I brought the groceries the scientist woman left you." With one hand he gestured at the ground. In a second, Briar's face went from anger to happiness. Clapping her hands, she bent to the ground and sorted through the food. Dais took the new set of books he had collected from the meager pickings the new bookstore had provided, as well as the many things he had thought useful from the same dumpster.  
Later that night, Dais sat cross legged on the floor near the small fire pit. He was stirring a small pot of stew as he read the latest Koontz novel. On the bed, Briar sat counting the money she had managed to scrounge up from the many clothes Dias brought in. Sometimes someone tossed an old pair of pants, forgetting some spare change and even once or twice a full wallet. Sighing, she looked at the fifteen dollars and twenty cents on the bed before her. From the floor, Dais did not look up, enraptured by the book.  
"How much is there?" he asked, having little to no concept of money.  
"Not enough." she sighed, putting each cent back into the small jar she had begun to use for collecting money. Glancing up from his book, Dais saw a shadowed look cross her face. He felt something stir as he set the book down. Grabbing onto the side of the pot, he removed it from the fire and headed to the bed. Dais set himself next to her, arms wrapping about her waist. Absentmindedly, he ran one hand over the swell of her stomach.  
"What worries you so my love?" he settled his chin on her shoulder. Briar smiled at him halfheartedly.  
"Just feeling tired." she put one hand over his as it traced a path on her stomach. Dais knew that was not the reason, but nodded anyway. He would deal with the problem later. Softly, he placed a few trailing kisses down her shoulder. Briar groaned, her over worked hormones setting her up for disappointment once again. Dais pulled back and went to leave her alone, when he saw she would not let go of his hand.  
Smiling he lent down, and placed a kiss on her lips. Then standing up, he walked to the fire pit. Suddenly he stopped, feeling her thin arms wrap about his waist. Two hands trailed across his waist, slowly moving into his pants. Blushing madly, he murmured something to himself.  
"Not now Briar..." he trailed off as she embarrassingly grabbed him. "Whoa.." he pulled himself from her arms. "Briar the food is almost done..then after that maybe we can see to doing something for those hormones you ha..."  
Again he was cut off as she began to tear up. "Why don't you want to sleep with me anymore?" her voice choked as the tears began to spill down her cheeks. "Is it because I have gotten fat?" Briar moved forward, sobbing uncontrollably now.  
Dais stuttered, at a loss of words. Moving forward, he wrapped both of his long arms around her. Kissing the top of her head, he ran one hand through the blond locks, as the other hand settled on top of her bulging stomach. "You're beautiful." he whispered. "Its just that I might hurt the child.." he trailed off.  
Neither of them said a word, they both just stood there, entwined as lovers are oft to do. Suddenly, something kicked Dais's clawed hand from Briar's stomach. He looked at her, pride shining in his eyes.  
"Seems the child knows me already." he grinned, playing with a stray lock. Smiling at him, Briar rolled her eyes.  
"He has been doing that for a while now...almost every half an hour." Again the baby kicked, causing her to wince. "Keeps using my kidneys as a punching bag."  
Dais smiled, looking down at her once again. "I like to feel the kick." He rubbed her stomach lovingly. Briar was about to retort, but stopped herself. Dais was just too cute when he was doting on their child. "Wait.." Dais looked at her, puzzled. "Did you say he?"  
Briar laughed, and pulled Dais to the fire pit. "Just a guess. Now, all this has made me hungry."  
************************  
Dais sat up, glancing at the sleeping woman beside him. After their dinner, she had fallen asleep as he read to her from "Paradise Lost." Now he gently removed himself from the bed, stalking to his work room. He looked back once, just to see if he had woken her. Briar did not stir, she only moved slightly, body flexing as she dreamed.  
In the workroom, Dais collected bottles of his latest works, and began setting them into a bag. He knew what worried her, and it worried him as well. Dais had never had a sense of currency, as anything he needed he took from those who no longer needed it. Money had never been an issue. Yet now, he was going to start a family, and he knew that it was time he earn his keep. As the patriarch of this bloodline, it was his duty. So, gathering his work as well as tossing on his cloak, Dais fled into the night.  
At the very top of the apartment building, Silvia Bluue stood at her window. She was watching the city, a habit she often took to when sleep escaped her. Tonight was like so many others. Alone in her large suite, the lights off save for the one illuminating the desk she so often found herself at. Sighing, she set down the small cup of tea, and turned from the window. Getting ready to return to her work, she stepped across the carpet.  
A knock on glass stopped her movements. Bluue glanced at the door, and saw no one. Deciding her mind was once again playing tricks, she took another step. There is was again. The knock on the glass went on, getting louder and louder. No one was at the door, so she turned and glanced towards the window. There, hanging in front of the glass was a black claw.  
Bluue rushed to the window, and opened it. She went to stick her head out of the window, only to come face to face with Dais. He hung upside down staring at her. His long dreadlocks swayed in the wind as he clutched the side of the building with his claws. She stared open mouthed at him and his feat.  
"Madame Bluue." he nodded, and glanced down at the city fifty stories below him. "May I come in?" After a quick nod from Bluue, he gently tossed the bag he was clutching through the open window and followed shortly after. Picking himself up from the carpet, he looked over at the stunned woman. "Excuse my intrusion madam, but I have something of vital importance to speak to you about."  
Settling herself, Bluue tried to contain her excitement. She had never gotten the chance to speak directly to Dais, and from the little Briar had let on, knew the man did not care for her in the slightest. Determined to befriend him she gestured to the seat next to her. Dais nodded and sat.  
"What is it you wanted to talk to me about Dais?" She smiled warmly.  
He looked at her for a moment. "I have a business proposition for you." Dais reached into his bag, and pulled some sample jars from its contents.


	38. Only the Rain

Sleep had become hard as the months wore on. At first her back had ached as she slept, then later she would wake up to a full blown cramp if she slept on her right side. That would not be a problem if she could sleep at all on any other side. The only way she could get comfortable and catch a few winks was to sleep on that one side. Sighing, Briar stretched out, rolling over to settle herself again. Now that she thought about it, there was one other position that she could sleep in comfortably, and it did not end in her waking with a cramp from hell.  
Deciding that it was the only position she could sleep in that night, Brair rolled next to Dais. Still asleep, he did not move from her as she settled along side him. With all the laziness of a warm cat, Briar stretched out, settling her bulging stomach next to his side, slinging one leg across his waist. Her arm settled along his chest, the other hand lacing itself through his dreadlocks. Sighing gently through her nose, Briar settled in to sleep for as long as she could.  
One hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. Smiling at him with her eyes closed, Briar chuckled. "Morning."  
She opened her eyes a slit, staring directly into his red orbs. "Well it is not morning yet." he murmured, still half asleep. Yawning, he rolled over, settling himself along her side. Briar laughed lightly, wrapping her arms around his neck. Dais nuzzled her neck, trying to go back to sleep. For a few moments they lay there just enjoying the presence of each other.  
Finally, it was the child that decided they should get up. Kicking his mother in the kidney, Briar let out an "Gah." as it sent another round of kicks into her side. Placing both hands over her stomach, Briar winced trying to talk to the restless little one inside her stomach.  
"Whoa! Alright little fella, I'm getting up, I'm getting up." Briar pulled herself from the bed, kissing Dais on the forehead.  
"Briar, you keep on calling the child a boy...has Bluue revealed the sex of the child to you?" Dais sat up, looking at her groggily. Every time she talked to the baby, she would refer to it as a boy, and it was killing Dais. He thought that perhaps she knew the sex of his child and was hiding it from him.  
"Nope. She offered too, but I told her we would wait." she turned, pulling the shirt she had worn to bed off. "I'm not keeping anything from you, you paranoid man." she giggled, tossing him a pair of pants from the drawer. He caught it, sliding them over his legs. Rolling his eyes at the insane woman he now called his lover. Suddenly he remembered something he had in the pocket of his other jeans. Glancing to Briar, he saw that she was not looking at him. Taking his chance, Dais pulled the dirty jeans from the night before from the floor, and began to rummage through the pockets.  
After going to Bluue the month before, he had set into action a plan he had been formulating for a long time. Bluue had run thousands of tests on the medicines and salves he had brought her, and in exchange for the ingredients and the process to make them, Dais was given a commission. A very hefty one at that, and there was the promise of more when he came up with more. At that very moment, tucked away in his hard backed copy of "Paradise Lost." sat exactly seventeen thousand dollars. He had been using it slowly, putting some in the pants he found, and others in the jar Briar used to collect money. Dais knew he should tell her, knew it would only cause him trouble when she found out but he could not help it. He did not want Briar to know he had forgiven Bluue only to get money to support her and his child. There was something in that idea that his pride would not allow him to admit it.  
Yet, despite his pride, Dais had only days ago called on the scientist one last time. Again the woman had made good on her promise and delivered the package to the grate just outside his home. That had been over a week ago and Dais still did not have the courage to ask what he needed to ask. He had meant to ask just after he got it, but had chickened out at the last minute.  
"Come on man." he muttered, hand coming around the small black box in his left pocket. Pulling it out, he turned to Briar. Trying to remember how this was supposed to go, he ran one hand through his hair nervously. "How does this go again...I get down on one knee, and I ask her. Right?" he looked around, noticing Briar bend down and pull on the pair of jeans she held. Not for the first time, his heart leapt into his throat.  
Briar looked over, and saw Dais looking at her, face dumbstruck. She chuckled and winked at him. This sent a shock of red across his face. Casting his eyes somewhere, anywhere else, Dais avoided looking at her. Still laughing, Briar waddled over to the fire pit, deciding she was hungry.  
Dais followed, trying to work up the nerve to ask her. Leaning over the fire pit, she lit a match and set the papers in the pit ablaze. Briar turned, and came face to face with Dais's chest. He stood above her, face red with embarrassment. "Whats the matter baby?" she asked, concerned.  
Steeling himself, Dais grabbed her hand, and knelt down on one knee. Grasping her hand, he tried to get the words to flow. "Briar, I would like you to...would you do me the honor of..how about being my..." he stuttered. Briar looked down at him not understanding what was going on. Dais sighed, his free hand running through his hair.  
Finally he just looked at her, face set. "Briar, would you..be my wife?" When he was met with silence, Dais quickly stammered out a defense. "THAT is of course if you want too, I am comfortable with the arrangement we have now. I'm not begging you, so its no big deal if you say no I was just thinking that maybe if you felt the same way I do about you that maybe we could..." he was silenced by Briar as she placed her fingertips against his lips.  
"Hush." she smiled, eyes watering. "Dais, I think it would be great. I think..." her face dropped. "Dais, I think your leg is on fire."  
The smile that had crept onto his face dropped. Looking over his shoulder, Dais knew she was right. The hem of his pant leg had been pushed on the fire when he had knelt down and it was now ablaze. Twisting himself, Dais pulled his leg up, trying to put it out. "What in the blazes!" he cried out. This only sent the flames higher as the air rushed about him.  
Briar rushed forward, pulling the bucket of water they used to cook with up with her. Tossing it over her head, she flung it over Dais, thoroughly drenching him and his leg. Sputtering, he looked up. Looking absolutely miserable he snarled at the bucket that had been tossed to the side in the madness. Briar bent down and picked up the small black box that Dais had dropped when his leg caught fire. She popped the lid, and pulled out the small silver ring. Watching from the floor, Dais almost cried out when she slipped it on her finger.  
For but a moment, she stared at him, eyes glistening. Then in a flurry of movement she flung herself onto him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she laughed at him.  
"Yes! Dais, yes!"


	39. I Am Acquainted with the Night

Briar moved slowly into the large room that served as Dais's workshop. Her steps were heavy, and awkward to make up for the extra weight she was carrying from the child. After all these months, Briar was ready for this child to come out. She had grown tired of the swollen ankles, and the back pains. Not to mention the constant kicks to her guts as the child rolled about in her.  
She had brought the force of these kicks up to Dais once just out of curiosity. He had not believed her, saying the kicks could not be as bad as she made them out to be. Being herself she had forced him to lay on the bed with her for over an hour to make him feel one of the kicks.  
 _"Briar, we have been here forever."he groaned, moving slightly. He could not go far, as Briar had a tight grip on his large hand, holding it to her stomach.  
"Just another moment, I can feel him moving around." She hissed, pulling Dais closer to her.  
Dais rolled his eyes at his lover, thinking her mad. Over all these months she had complained that the child kicked too hard. Personally he believed this was just a mixture of hormones and Briar's tendency to over react. Atleast that was his belief up until he felt something slam into the palm of his hand.  
"Christ almighty!" He cried out, pulling his hand back from the swollen abdomen of his lover. He looked at her amazed, then let his eyes travel to her stomach again. The child in there had one hell of a kick, as the palm of his hand was still stinging. If it hurt him so, he could only imagine how it felt for her.  
Something that must have been a mixture of annoyance and pain crossed Briar's face. "Think its just hormones now mister?" she crossed her arms over her chest, wincing as the child kicked once again.  
Shaking his head, Dais leaned over her, planting a gentle kiss on her lips. He then ran one hand through her hair, claws tracing the top of her scalp lightly. Briar giggled, pulling him over top of her for another kiss. Keeping his bulk hovering just above her as not to crush her stomach, Dais murmured some quiet things to her.  
"You perv!" She laughed, slapping his cheek lightly. He chuckled darkly, opening his mouth to say something. Instead he let out an odd wheeze, and fell to the side of her. Briar grimaced, holding her stomach until the pain passed. Finally able to open her eyes, she looked at the man beside her, who was curled slightly and holding his crotch. "Apparently the baby thinks you are one as well."  
Dais looked at her darkly, his eyes watering slightly. He tried to growl at her, only managing to whimper slightly. "Okay, you win. Damn it all."  
At this Briar burst out laughing. _  
Now she stopped, and looked at the man sitting at the old table littered with books and tools. Well, maybe a few hours ago he had been sitting there, but now he was bent over the table, head resting on the table. Dreadlocks laid on the table, spread out over his arms, which he was using as a pillow. His large and thin chest moved up and down slowly as he breathed peacefully. Briar smiled to herself at the sweet scene before her. She moved in to the room, coming up beside him. Looking down at his closed eyes, lips parted slightly as he dreamed, Briar blushed. Sometimes this man seemed so damn cute, even though she knew she might be one of the only ones in the world able to see it. In his sleep, Dais murmured something, and moved the claws on one hand slightly. Briar giggled slightly, and leaned in closer to him. Planting a kiss on his cheek, and another on his eyelid as she ran her hand through his hair.  
"Hmmm." he breathed out, lips curling into a smile. Pressing her body against his back she whispered into his ear.  
"Get up babe. Today's the day." Briar smiled, rubbing his arms to get him up.  
One eye cracked open, the red glowing slightly in the low light of the room. The black bags under his eyes were larger, and Briar felt kind of bad. Dais had not been sleeping well for a couple of nights, and she often found him asleep in his work during the middle of the day. Usually when Dais did not sleep well, it meant there was something on his mind. At the moment, he was not in the mood to share with her exactly what that was and it was infuriating her to no end. Yet Briar did not have time for that at the moment, as today was the day she was to get the final ultrasound. This one would prove whether or not the child had inherited its fathers genes. "Time to get up Dais." She ruffled his hair, sending a few dreads flying as she did so. He pulled back, growling lightly. Still tired, Dais ran one weary hand through his hair, blinking and stretching. Briar watched the muscles in his back flex and roll as he pulled both arms above his head.  
"Remind me never to sleep at this god forsaken table again..." One clawed hand rubbed his neck lightly, working out the kinks that must have formed while he slept. "I always end up with a crick in my neck every time I do so." Dais rumbled lowly, standing up.  
"Do you remember what day it is?" Briar asked, sniffing at one of the open jars set about Dais's workbench. The only reply she received was a grunt and a sigh as her lover realized there was no tea in the pot set out for him. Disappointment was evident in his face as he picked up the small silver kettle between two claws and glared at its inside, visibly pouting.  
Smiling at him, Briar stepped back into the bedroom and came back out with a large steaming cup of tea. Dais looked over at her, perking up slightly. "Care to share some of that with me?" He asked, moving toward her. Briar backed up, putting the cup to her mouth.  
"I have already had two cups today, but something about this tea makes me want more and more." She sipped the tea slightly, making noises as she did so. Glancing at Dais, she nearly choked from the look on his face. He stood there, looking tired and worn down, his face was set like that of a small dog told no for the first time. She laughed out loud from the look and she moved forward to hug him, as much as she could with her stomach in the way. "I will make some more." Briar kissed Dais lightly on the lips.  
Wrapping his long arms about her, Dais pulled Briar into a long kiss, slowly wrapping one of his large claws about her small hand. Briar did not notice what hand it was exactly until she felt the cup being pulled from her hand. Letting go of her, Dais downed the cup of tea in a second, then gave Briar the shittiest grin he could manage. Slapping his chest lightly, Briar laughed.  
"You sneaky bastard!" tossing her arms about him, Briar kissed him, one hand running along his arm. Dais pulled from the kiss, looking at her seriously.  
"Today is the day of the final ultrasound, is it not?" his voice was low, afraid.  
Running one hand along his jaw, Briar nodded. "Yes. I have to be there soon. I thought it best to wake you before I left." silently, she laid her head against his chest. Neither one spoke, Dais just held her, one hand laying across her head, his lips touching her hair. Briar listened to his heartbeat, noticing it was faster than normal.  
Soon though, she pulled away, knowing that Bluue would be expecting her. "I have to go...see you later tonight?" she asked, voice cracking slightly.  
As always he answered. "I shall not leave." Dais bent low, and put a single kiss on one of her fingers. It was quick, just a peck, right below the silver ring she wore. Blushing slightly, she pulled from him, and slipped on her shoes near the tunnels entrance. Just as she was about to leave, Dais called to her.  
"Love you, Briar." he reached a hand out to her, smiling shyly.  
"Wish us luck..." Briar turned quickly, now uncomfortable. With that she left the tunnel, sweeping off into the labyrinth. Dais put his hand down, sighing to himself before returning to his work.  
*************************  
Briar moved about in the sun, enjoying the feel of the light on her. How she missed living above the streets sometimes. The cars, the people, the culture. Sometimes she would look around Dais's place and wonder how he had not gone mad years ago. It was so barren down there, barricaded from everything in the world. Everything that could hurt him was above him, and he filled the world with work and study instead. Candlelight did not make up for the warmth of the sun, that she knew better than anything.  
Crossing the street as fast as a woman in her condition could, Briar took the time to look around. Since she had gone underground the area seemed to have changed immensely. An old coffee shop on the corner had closed down and was now a small pizza joint. There seemed to be more cars on this street, but Briar mostly attributed this to the fact that the last time she had been up above the sewer was in the early spring when there is always less traffic than in the summer.  
As busy as she was looking at the changes made in what was technically her neighborhood, Briar did not notice the man she bumped into until she was thrown forward slightly from the impact. Turning, her face bright red, she apologized.  
"I am so sorry! Forgive me." she turned and took off into the crowd, embarrassed that that had even happened. She would have to be more careful about watching where she was going. The man she bumped into did not utter a word but instead stood there in the middle of the sidewalk, transfixed.  
He knew her. Very well in fact, but the last time he had seen her she was laying in a puddle of her own blood in a sewer pipe. The man turned, hooded shirt moving slightly to reveal the large scars that ran across his face. Three vertical scars ran from his forehead to his chin. One eyelid was slashed and scared. Adam was pissed, and it showed in his eyes.  
The monster had lied to him! It had told him the bitch was taken care of! That meant gone in most people's language! Dead! D.E.A.D, dead! Yet there she was, walking, talking, and of all things pregnant! That was what pissed him off the most, the fact that she was pregnant. For a brief moment he thought that maybe it was his but counting the months backwards, he realized that there would already be a child if it was his. No, this meant only one thing.  
Briar had slept with the monster. Adam clenched his teeth, his hands balling into fists. Had he ever given the creature permission to touch the bitch? He traded his life for hers, yet now he turns to see that the monster had not taken her life but had started sleeping with her! This was unforgivable, this transgression against him would not go unpunished. He knew he should have come after the creature that night he had marred his perfect face, but something had stopped him.  
Adam had all the incentive he needed now, seeing her this way. Images of them together, his hand on her skin, his lips on hers. All of it drove him mad, pushing him over the edge. He would have his revenge. Adam swore to the gods above that nothing except his death would stop him. Nothing could save the beast now. Nothing.


	40. You're Free to Leave Me.

The machine binged, as it scanned. Briar lay down on the table, shirt pulled up to her chest, slightly chilled from the substance rolled on to her stomach. The first time she had done this, it had been very uncomfortable but she had gotten used to it...well most of it. Above her, Bluue moved the scanner in a circular motion about her stomach. Slowly an image began to form on the screen before her. A tiny ball, that once had little to no definition now sat in her uterus completely formed. Briar could see the little arms, and the nose set on the child's face.  
"Oh my.." Briar choked up a little bit, seeing her child fully for the first time. Bluue gave her a look of sheer happiness, and grinned at the younger woman.  
"See the hands? Not a single claw. The child has not inherited any of the larger deformities Dais has." Turning from Briar, she shut off the machine as Briar got up to clean off the gel on her abdomen.  
"Thank god." Briar sighed out, head in her hands. How thrilled was this going to make Dais, Briar could not help but smile. She knew all these months he had been worried sick over the state of the child's traits. Now she could lift that burden from his shoulders. A moment later, something Bluue said pulled her from her thoughts.  
"Any other traits inherited from him should be minimal and explainable." she spoke flippantly as she reset all the tools in the room. This brought a lump to Briar's throat.  
"You mean it may still look like him?" her voice cracked slightly.  
"Briar, dear. This DNA is unpredictable. I am surprised Dais's has even lasted this long, it should have unraveled by now." she did not catch the meaning of what she said until it came from her mouth.  
The look on Briar's face did it, and Bluue tried to quickly undo what she had said. "That came out wrong! I meant nothing by it. Dais will be fine, if the DNA has held out this long, I highly doubt it will ever unravel. As for the child's traits..." she moved closer to the younger woman sitting on the edge of the examination table. "there is no way for us to know how your blood has mixed. Yet, as there are no claws or teeth on the ultrasound, anything else the child inherits we may be able to explain away. Don't worry."  
Briar swallowed the lump in her throat, nodding. Bluue smiled sweetly, leading Briar from the room and into her office to talk for a while.  
*****************************  
Slowly he turned the large silver ring about his long and blackened finger. Hours ago Briar had taken off to get the final ultrasound before the child was born. This was the one he had been holding his breath for. Every time he thought about the child, he prayed to whatever god had decided to give him Briar that the child not be cursed as he was. Now was the day they finally find out.  
Still he fiddled with the ring, leaning back dangerously far in his chair. For over an hour he had been trying to work on this problem before him. Nothing seemed to add up and to him the numbers made no sense. Knowing his own mind, Dais took this as a sign to step back from it. The books full of his handwriting littered the table, most of it just ramblings of his mind as he tried to develop something new, or as he contemplated a meaning of the universe.  
At this he chuckled darkly. There had been so many times over the months that Briar had scolded him for thinking too much. She always told him that he would feel so much better if he just turned off his brain once in a while and let go. "Follow your heart." she would say, snuggled against him in the bed.  
He had never forced himself to respond, mostly giving her a slight chuckle before dropping the subject. How he wished he could tell her that such a thing had already happened to him. He had listened to his heart, listened to it break over and over. Thinking was a way to protect himself, intellect a shield against the things that could hurt.  
Briar did not understand this. The world above her would accept her. As much as he treasured the individual she was, Briar could blend into those people that lived above his head, something he could not do. That is why his decision was already made. If the child was normal, then she would have to return to the surface.  
Dais did not see what a big deal this arrangement was. Briar knew where he lived, and could always bring the child down to see him if she so wished. That and he had promised her that he would be there, even if neither she nor the child knew that he was. To Dais, that promise was worth everything it would take to fulfill it.

Over the course of his thinking and planning, Dais had contemplated the possibility of Briar marrying someone else. As he saw it, while it would break his heart, why shouldn't she remarry? If down the road she ran into someone she could love and loved her back, who was he to stand in her way? The mere thought of this caused him to sigh loudly.  
Sitting forward in the chair, letting all four legs down on the floor once more, he rested his head in the crook of his arm. "She never said it..." he said out loud to no one. "Never once has she said it. I tell her it all the time but I have never once heard it."  
Again he sighed, closing his eyes in exasperation. "I do love that woman, for some god forsaken reason. What an irritating situation." wearily he brushed his hand through his hair, sitting up straight. Deciding that he had taken enough time to think over things long since set in stone Dais set back to work on his problem.


	41. Gone

The tea was hot going down her throat, and Briar cringed slightly. She sat at a small table in Bluue's apartment. Around her boxes lay, taped shut and piled up while the rest of the place set bare. Before her sat Bluue now in something more comfortable than her work clothes.  
"Bluue, may I ask you something?" Briar looked up nervously. The older woman nodded, sipping her tea. "It has been really great of you all these months taking care of us...but won't it get you in trouble with your boss? For using all that stuff, I mean."  
"Everything I use for personal situations is taken from my pension." She waved one hand flippantly.  
Briar stared at her, taken aback. "Why didn't you tell us? We would have never of intruded like this!" she set her cup down on the table loudly.  
"Now don't be like that darling." Bluue did not react, only shutting her eyes slightly as she continued to sip the tea before her. "It does not matter, as you two have repaid that debt to me in full, and more. It does not matter now anyway." Now setting her cup on the table, Bluue stared off into the room.  
"Are you going somewhere?" Briar asked, wondering how they had repaid Bluue for all her kindness.  
Picking her tea back up Bluue nodded. "Yes. I purchased a lovely little cabin in the woods a far, far distance from here."she smiled sadly at Briar. "You must bring the child to visit me sometime."  
For a few more moments neither of them spoke, until Bluue started. Looking at Briar almost as if she had just remembered something important she exclaimed in a chipper tone. "Oh, do you want to see the room I set up for the birth?"  
Receiving only a blank stare from Briar, Bluue grabbed her hand, and pulled her into one of the adjoining rooms in the apartment. Turning the door knob, she showed her into the room.  
There sat two beds in the room, along with all kinds of medical equipment. Bluue had turned this room into an exact replica of the rooms one would get in a normal hospital. Excited now for some reason, Bluue began to explain things to the very shocked pregnant woman at her side.  
"I thought it best if you did not go to a traditional hospital, and having the child in the lab is out of the question. So I began to think that maybe if I made a place where only those of us who know about this, you and Dais can stay comfortably. The thought struck me to use one of the rooms here and I rented this equipment from the lab. For the time being of course." Taking a quick look at the stunned woman beside her, Bluue pouted slightly.  
"I hope I wasn't being too presumptuous."  
Briar did not respond to that, as she only pointed to the beds. "Why are there two beds?" she asked, voice wound tight from the surprise of the whole situation.  
"Why for you and Dais of course. I believe that since it will take place somewhere he can get to, and knows no one can come after him he will want to be here when you give birth." she smiled, then rushed to one of the bedside tables.  
Opening the top drawer, Bluue took out a small silver package. Crossing the room, she set the object in Briar's hand. Opening her hand, she saw it was a small cellphone.  
"Bluue, what...what is this for?" she asked, not wanting anything else from the woman she could not pay for.  
"Call me when you first feel the contractions. No..wait. Call me when your water breaks. My number is the only one in there, and I pray that thing will get reception down in those tunnels."  
Seeing the look on Briar's face, she winked at her. "After that, I need the phone back, okay?" Briar nodded, grateful that she was not getting another free gift. Suddenly she threw her arms about the older woman, making her start.  
"Thank you Bluue." she muttered into her shirt, hugging her tightly. After a moment, Bluue reacted, returning the hug.  
"Its no problem love. No problem at all."


	42. Don't Say It

Her head now full of happy thoughts, Briar stepped into the tunnel that acted as her home. As much as she missed the sun and the world above, Briar could not help but feel relaxed stepping into the tunnel she had lived in for so long. Slipping off her shoes, she moved in silently.  
After looking into the room, Briar discovered Dais working amongst his books, having three of them propped up before him as he scribbled somethings into the fourth one on his lap. Again she marveled at how he wrote.  
Clutching the pencil delicately between two claws, he moved it across the page straight up. By the way it looked, one would have guessed his handwriting to be impossible to read, yet it was neat and crisp. The loopy writing lay across hundreds of pages, scribbled in margins and in the back of books. The way he was staring at the books before him, and the pace of the notes he was writing down, Briar could only assume he was in the middle of some math problem.  
Chuckling to herself, she would bet anything it was the one that had been stumping him for almost two days. That man could be obsessed sometimes. Stepping into the room, she smiled cheerfully at him.  
"I'm back hon." Stepping across the room to the table on which he sat, she wrapped her arms about him. "Still trying to figure out that problem?"  
"Not a chance." He smirked, teeth glinting slightly. "I figured that one out hours ago. Now I am translating some Russian novel. It is called Lolita." He shut the book quickly, setting it on the table.  
"Knew you could do it." Briar smiled, kissing him on the cheek. Dais blushed slightly, turning to her.  
"You sure are in a good mood." His face grew serious, and he looked at her with an almost piercing gaze. "How about it? What did the ultrasound say?"  
Sighing that he would want to hear it directly, Briar threw herself into his lap. Instinctively his arms came up to wrap around her. Kissing him lightly on the lips, Briar came out with the good news.  
"Not a thing that they can see." her voice was overflowing with happiness at the fact that the child was not like him.  
Something dangerous flashed in Dais's eyed for but a moment. Then he smiled at her. Briar knew something was off, the smile that usually graced his face was forced and almost sad.  
"What?" she asked, concerned. Wasn't this the good news they had been waiting for all this time? "What is the matter?"  
Dais shook his head, kissing her lightly. "There is one thing Briar."  
She nodded, scared by the expression on his face. "Yeah...what?"  
He looked at her, taking in every detail, committing her to memory. Finally assured that he had memorized every detail of her face, he spoke so softly that Briar almost missed it. Almost.  
"Your stuff has been packed. Leave this place."  
Her words stuck in her throat, unable to come out. After a few minutes of staring at the man now averting his eyes from hers, Briar managed to sputter out a few words.  
"Wha...what the hell?" her voice cracked, anger rising as she tried to get a proper answer from the man before her.  
"I said your bags are packed." He shut his eyes for a moment, teeth clenching. Opening them once more, he stared at her with those pure red orbs. "Leave."  
Briar pulled herself from his lap, staring at him in disbelief. Had he just told her to leave? That ungrateful bastard, she was carrying his child and now he wanted to kick her out? "What the fuck Dais? WHAT THE FUCK!" she yelled at him, trying to understand why.  
Dais stood, pulling one of his books along with him. Slowly he paced the room, tending to little things to keep his hands busy. Keep it together man, he reprimanded himself sorely. You already decided this was the only way. You know she would never agree to the plan anyway. JUST DO IT!  
He turned to her, face set in its stoic mask. "You heard me. I have asked you twice already to leave here, but you do not seem to understand this. Allow me to say it another way. " Dais took a deep breath, all the while never once looking at the woman staring at him from the center of the room. "Get out. Get the fuck out of here..go. Go away."  
Briar could not believe her ears, something must have broken. Was the world ending, or had she just gone mad? Looking at Dais, she began to grow angry, so unbelievably angry with him.  
"Why the fuck should I?" she spit out, rage evident on her face.  
"Because you are no longer required to remain here." he blinked at her, noticing the rage in her face. He had not thought she would get angry at him. "Briar, do not make this harder than it has to be."  
She screamed at him, not caring that he was now pleading with her not to be angry. Briar was pissed, and at the moment she could only handle one emotion at a time. So that emotion was anger. "Harder than it needs to be? It doesn't need to be anything Dais! How the fuck do you just THROW me out after everything?"  
Dais turned to her, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Briar, calm down. It is not healthy for the child..."  
"What the fuck do you care about the child?"  
"Briar! I love the child, and I want only the best for both..."  
"Oh bullshit! Dais, that is the biggest load of shit you have ever fed me! Kicking me out of here, and onto the streets is not helping the child. Who by the way is due at any fucking time..." she yelled at him, eyes dancing as she pointed at him. "This is another one of your fucking attempts to throw me from your life isn't it?" When he did not answer, she blew a stray lock from her head. "Jesus Christ, it is! You are trying to push me away!"  
Sighing loudly, she ran one hand through her hair, trying to calm down. Stepping forward, she tried to say something, anything that would not get them into another fight. All these months had gone by, and neither of them had had a major fight with the other. Now that the baby was so damn close, she did not want to have a large tiff with him. At the moment, Briar could not handle the stress. "What..what exactly are you trying to push me away for? We are supposed to get married Dais." she asked, voice damningly calm. "What reason could you have for wanting to get rid of me, rid of us?"  
Dais did not know what to say, words having failed him again. He just stared at her, an unreadable expression on his face. Both garnet eyes glowed with something almost like sadness. Briar wanted to look away from those eyes for the first time in months, a fact that did not fail to tug on her heart heavily.  
Finally it seemed words once again began to fill his mind. "As I have told you, Briar, this area is not a living place fit for anyone..other than myself of course." He waved one black clawed hand in the air. "It is for the best that the child and you live above this place."  
"Dais, I have lived down here for this entire time and noth..." Briar began, only to be cut off.  
"Nothing has happened to you, yet." he stared at her, lips pursing slightly. "Do you know how many tunnels there are in this area alone? Say someday you go down one of the wrong ones, and end up stuck somewhere? Many of these tunnels start large as caverns and end up so small that even the rats can not squeeze through! Take one wrong tunnel and before you know it, you aren't able to turn around! Not to mention there are many holes and such in the damned pipes along here you could fall in!"  
Dais looked at her, willing her to understand what he was going on about. She stared back, not understanding what any of that had to do with Dais being so uncaring about tossing her out.  
"Beneath our feet at this very moment is about fifteen thousand gallons of water rushing towards the spillway set not too far from this very room. There it joins another fifteen sets of flowing water and travels down a large drain into some ungodly part of the new sewer system." Still this did not register with Briar, and Dais motioned to the floor violently. "The water there, at the slowest points goes about forty seven miles an hour and contains a large and powerful under toe. Were you or the child to ever fall into one of those pipes, even I could do nothing to save you. It would sweep you into the spillway faster than I could get to you, and if an under toe were to take you, nothing I could do would make a difference."  
Realization dawned on Briar's face as she began to see what Dais was getting at. He was worried about the safety issues involved with living in such a place. "Dais, I have no need to explore these tunnels any further. I know the way to the surface, and that is all I need to know about this place." She moved forward, lacing her fingers through his. "Plus even if someday I wanted to see the tunnels of this place, I would make you show me the ones that are safe."  
Dais smiled lightly, taking one hand and rubbing the back of the one laced in his softly. For a moment he said nothing, forgetting that he was trying to make her leave. "Make me?" he chuckled playfully. "What gives you the idea that you can make me do anything?"  
At that Briar moved upwards quicker than she had in months. Wrapping her hand around the back of her head, she pulled him in for a passionate kiss. Heatedly she pressed her lips against his, willing them to open for her once again. They did not part, and after a moment, Dais jerked himself from her grasp.  
Stumbling back, Dais tore himself from her. "No, I...we...we can't." Briar stared at him, the hurt written all over her face. It looked as if someone had punched her in the gut, and had destroyed something precious to her.  
"Dais..why can't we..." she trailed off, hands gripping nothing but the air, closing once or twice uselessly. He turned from her as quickly as he could manage, crashing into the side of his work table loudly. From the top of the table tumbled a few objects, one of them a glass tube. It shattered once it hit the cement floor of the tunnel, sending pieces of glass flying about the area. Dais looked down at the jar, eyes wide and scared.  
"We can't go back to that. Briar, I am so sorry, but we can't." his chest heaved up and down as he leaned against the table. The muscles that ran along his back clenched as he dug his claws into the table, willing himself to finally get it over with. This scenario had been playing out for too long. Nothing good could come of it continuing.  
"Just leave. Please, oh gods, please just leave." That was it, his back turned from her, shoulders slumped, Dais said no more. Briar finally took the hint, and tore her gaze from the forlorn image of her lover to the entrance of the room.  
"Fine.." her voice was hard, bitter towards him. "You get your wish, I'm leaving you alone." She stalked angrily to the door, not even bothering to gather the things Dais had packed for her.  
The door to the outer tunnels loomed above her, seeming daunting and morbid, something they had never seemed to her before. Briar paused before them for but a moment, and whispered something to the man bent over the table, not looking at her.  
"I thought you loved me Dais..I really did." Tears began to fall down her cheeks, making her eyes sting as she tried to hold them in. "I hope..." her voice cracked, taking on the common stuffy voice used by people trying not to cry. "I hope you are happy down here in this palace of night you have made for yourself." Stifling a sob, she took from the room, leaving Dais to his own misery.  
From there, she rushed through the tunnels, running as fast as someone in her condition can manage. Around her the tunnels blurred into a cloud of gray and tears. This was maybe the reason that she did not see the intruder. Maybe it was fate, or the fact that he had tucked himself away in some dark corner of a untouched bend in the pipe, but she did not even know anyone else was there. Eyes glinting with barely withheld madness he watched as she flew past his hiding spot, waiting until he heard the distant clang of her exiting the sewer. Slowly he pulled himself from the shadows, moving amongst the darkness of the tunnel. Silent as the grave, he moved forward towards that distant curtained opening, silver knife glinting as he passed under a grate. Adam grinned, teeth glowing as he stalked forward toward his prey


	43. Calls in the Night

Bluue sat alone in her apartment, sipping at a smoldering cup of chamomile tea. Over the years she had taken to drinking this to help when sleep did not come, as it is oft to do when one ages.  
Yet tonight something was off, and she did not want to drink the tea before her. Nothing was wrong with the taste, and she had made the tea as she always did, letting the bag steep longer than recommended, and sweetening it with honey alone. Yet there was something about this cup of damned tea that was not as appealing to her as it had been night after night for years. Sighing, she brushed a few stray locks from her forehead.  
"What is wrong with me tonight?" she sighed, resting her head on both her arms. It was almost nine at night, and she had to finish packing in the morning. Someone of her age, even as virile as she still was had to have their sleep! Again she sighed, trying to figure out why she could not get to sleep.  
A moment later, a small sound caught her ear. Recognizing the vibration of her phone, Bluue went about trying to find the small cellphone. After scrounging around the room for a moment, she found it laying at the bottom of her purse, discarded on the floor near the front door. Flipping the silver cover up, she read the black digits on the LED screen. It was Briar.  
Mildly surprised that she would be calling her so soon, having just seen her earlier that day, Bluue pressed the talk button and set the phone against her ear.  
"Briar honey! What do I owe this call to?" she smiled, pulling her purse from the floor. When nothing but a stifled sob came from the other end of the phone Bluue dropped her purse on the table.  
"Oh honey, whats wrong?" she clutched the phone, praying it was something fixable, something that did not have to do with the baby.  
"Dais..." Briar's voice was thick, and seemed to be trying not to break down. "Dais kicked me out Bluue. He just kicked..." she stopped, breathing in heavily. " kicked me out.." After that she got silent, but from the end pressed against her ear, Bluue could hear the sobs coming from the younger woman.  
"Oh my.." she trailed off, rushing to her door and unlocking it. "come on up sweetheart, we will figure this out." With that she clicked off the phone and rushed out her door to get the girl she now considered a surrogate daughter.


	44. Hell's Bells

Adam pushed his head through the curtained opening, peering into the gloomy room. Nothing happened and from his vantage point Adam could see his prey. Deciding to no longer mess with stealth, Adam threw himself into the room, knife staying hidden just behind his waist for the time being. Feet slapping the floor he moved in close to the man seated at the only table in the room.  
"Leave me worm." Dais growled, not even bothering to look at the man coming up behind him. Adam opened his mouth to say something, anything to offset the surprise he felt about being detected so soon. Yet Dais cut him off before he could, his growl turning into a slight whine. "You doubt my senses...I could smell you in the tunnel as you came near."  
He turned slightly, head twisting to look at the man behind him over one shoulder. The mass of black dreadlocks moved slightly across his back revealing the coiled muscle twitching beneath the pale alabaster skin. Another growl came through, rumbling from his chest.  
"What? You finally scare her off?" Adam hissed, stepping closer to Dais. Dais glanced at him, eyes blank. This was not getting the reaction Adam desired, so he stepped up his game. "I was standing right there you know...as she ran from here. Had I just put my arm out I could have touched her."  
At this something glinted in Dais's eyes, egging Adam on. "Heh...touch that blond hair. I love that look you gave her, that glow about her." When Dais did not react, Adam threw in his kicker. "The look of an expectant mother. Am I correct in guessing the maggot in her womb is yours?"  
At this Dais turned, red eyes flashing something dangerous. "Watch what spills from your mouth you foul piece of shit.." his voice was low, and deep, sounding more like a growl than it ever had before.  
"Awww, have I touched on a nerve?" He chuckled darkly, the sound of it pitched high and strained. It was the laugh of a mad man. "Tell me you fucking abomination, is that parasite growing in her gut going to rip itself out? Is that how your kind is born?" Adam swung the knife air, grinning from ear to ear. As the look on Dais's face got darker and more feral, he continued on.  
"Ha! So it does strike a nerve..." the grin splitting his face got wider and more insane with each word. "when I talk about the little whore and that maggot of a child you spawned together!"  
Dais turned to face the man before him, eyes blazing with hatred and murderous rage. "I said watch your tongue Worm! Unless you want to see it fly from your mouth as I rip it out of that gaping orifice you call one!" His long black fingers moved, the knuckles on one hand cracking as he did so.  
"Ooooh! I am so scared! The "Beast" is going to get me if I don't shut my mouth! Tell me "Beast" how is it exactly that the little parasite Briar is carrying came along in the first place? Was it rape, did you take her without her permission, hn?"  
Again something flashed in Adam's eyes, glinting as he pulled the knife through the air as he spoke. "At first I thought that yes, maybe you had. Then maybe the bitch had fallen in love with you in some sick perverted sense, but now I am beginning to rethink that as well." His finger balanced itself on the top of the knife, eyes never once leaving the man growing more angry by the minute.  
"Maybe, just maybe she was the one to take you. Then again, maybe not. All I know is that once I am done here, and she sees that you are dead, she will come crawling back to me.”  
A growl from Dais interrupted Adam's rant for but a moment, then he continued on like nothing had happened. "Then things will be back to normal, back to the right way. I think I will take her back you know..." his grinned dropped for a moment, looking deadly serious. "That is after she gets the damn parasite in her gut removed. Hell if I have to I'll do it with a coat hanger. Then, after everything has been done, I'll take her as mine." Looking directly at Dais, he sneered.  
"I'll slit her throat right after, and make sure no one ever finds her body." Breaking out into a loud and high pitched laugh, he stopped moving across the room toward Dais. Staring at the man as if he had gone crazy all traces of anger had left Dais's face, replaced by fear. This human was mad, completely and unbearably insane.  
"Adam, leave this place, for both our sakes..." he started, trying to talk some sense into the man.  
"No!" Adam screamed, his face contorting as he yelled, a streak of fear mixing itself in with the madness. "You do not tell me what to do! YOU do NOT tell ME what to DO!" The knife waved through the air, pointing directly at Dais. "I will LISTEN to you anymore! After I listened to you, everything fell apart...EVERYTHING!" Adam's breaths got closer together and more rapid as he ranted. "Once Briar was down here in the sewer, things got worse. The band..the band kicked me out, and got another lead singer. All of this was fine with me of course, until they got SIGNED with a label...then I lost my job, and my new girlfriends found out about each other. I lost the apartment, and have had to sleep in my car the last two months! Yet, everything, everything was okay until I saw HER today..."  
Dais watched the knife as it swung through the air, the candlelight glinting off the blade as it moved. Adam, who had not even glanced at Dais during his entire rant, locked both his eyes on him.  
"I saw her on the street, glowing that way they do like that. She looked so happy, so carefree, and it pissed me off! She was supposed to be DEAD! Gone! All this time everything was okay because she was gone, but now I turn to find out that she was alive, and sleeping with YOU? THAT is not RIGHT! How, in the name of god, could SHE have ended up with YOU, and with a child...when I never got that chance." Breathing slowing slightly, he continued to stare directly at Dais, the knife no longer moving through the air. "That was when I decided to end it. You took so fucking much from me, and that is not right. After you are dead, everything will be mine again. Everything..."  
Dais stared at the man, his face a blank as he tried to think of something, anything to say to the insane man before him. For a moment, neither man moved, staring each other down. Not a sound was uttered, and one could only hear them breathing if you listened hard enough. That was until Adam decided he had one last thing to say.  
"You know, maybe I will let her have the filthy little monster, they make chains and sound proof basements for a reason you know...plus once it gets old enough, I am sure some dip shit doctor would pay to dissect it..."  
At this Dais's growl turned feral. Lashing out at the man before him, Dais could not control his anger. "If you ever touch a single hair on that child's, or Briar's heads I swear to whatever god there is above that I will cut you into the tiniest pieces possible, and spread you to the wind!" His black claws curled, clacking and snapping as he moved. Letting go of the tables edge, something he had subconsciously gripped as Adam went on his tirade, Dais stepped forward.  
Drawing a deep breath to emit a low and hoarse growl, he stared at the insane man before him with an almost primal fury. "Leave this place you insignificant, miserable excuse for a human being..leave now and if you even turn to look over your shoulder before you are gone from here, I will rip that shriveled organ you call a heart right from your chest."  
Adam did not flinch, and did not move from the spot he was holding. "You can call me anything you want, beast. In all of this, at least I can call myself human. After all, I am the only one in this room." He pulled the knife near his chest, setting it into a fighting position.   
Dais nodded once, eyes glowing with an almost feral light. "You are correct Adam." His voice was soft, a deadly whisper. "All this time, I have played at the edge of humanity. I can no longer pretend to be something I am so obviously not, and I believe this will be the last we see of each other. If you wish to fight, then bring it on. Call on your will, on your god, whatever brings you strength. For the beast has now woken, Worm." He spit out the last word as if it left a vile taste in his mouth. " Be it this is the toll of my bell, then I consent to this death. Come at me, and we shall see who I drag screaming into hell with me." With this he leaped forward, claws stretched out just as Adam swung his blade. The sounds of tearing flesh, blades crashing together, and bodies being tossed about the room echoed through the tunnels, creating a deadly symphony of destruction.


	45. You Can't Rewind

"I just don't get it...that stupid, stupid bastard of a man actually kicked me out." Briar trailed off, setting her head into her hands. She and Bluue were gathered about the small table in the older woman's kitchen. An untouched cup of tea sat before Briar, having long ago gone cold. "I just don't get him Bluue."  
Sighing, Bluue sat up, placing her hand over the woman she had come to think of as the daughter she had never had. "The males of the species are complicated darling." Her voice was hushed, and soothing.  
"Maybe he is right, maybe he and I were never..." Briar trailed off again, her eyes blurring with a fresh set of tears. "Maybe we were never meant to be."  
At this Bluue got a most odd look on her face, seemingly a cross between anger and sadness. "Now you listen here young woman! When I came down there for tea those few times, after Dais trusted me enough to let me further than the grate, I saw somethings." Her voice softened, taking on the mothering quality Bluue had not known she possessed until meeting these two young people. "I saw the way he looks at you, Briar. There is something in his eyes, something that I know means he loves you. He really, truly does."  
With one long slender hand, she gripped Briar by the chin and pulled her up to face her. Eyes locking with her, Bluue smiled gently. "There it is, it is your eyes as well darling. You love him as well, you love him with all your heart."  
"I don't know if I..." Briar started, only to be shushed by the older woman.  
"You do darling. You are over thinking the whole thing. Now, to take care of this situation. Have you ever let that man boss you around before?" she sat back, one arm slinging itself over the back of the chair.  
"No." was Briar's quiet answer.  
"Then why the hell are you letting him do it now? This is no different than the other times he tried to boss you around. Now get out of here and show him that your still the same old Briar that won't take his shit!"  
For a moment Briar stared at Bluue, her eyes wide. She had never heard something like that come from Bluue, and it was surprising to say the least. A moment later, Briar stood up, the table shaking slightly as her stomach bumped into the edge. "You are right! Who does that bastard think he is, ordering me about like that! I am going to give him a piece of my mind!" Briar pumped one hand in the air, making a fist with it.  
Bluue laughed heartily. "Yes, yes. Now get going, and let this old woman get some rest." Briar reached around the table, and hugged the older woman before she took off towards the door. For a moment, she stopped and turned back, one hand on the door handle.  
"Thanks Bluue." she smiled. Bluue responded with a smile and a shooing motion with her hands. Rushing through the door, and slamming it closed, Briar took off back to the tunnels she was determined to call home. After she was sure Briar had left, Bluue turned to the window, a sigh escaping her lips.  
"I have a bad feeling about this." she trailed off, lifting another cup of tea to her lips, but not taking a single sip.  
**************************  
Briar moved through the tunnels quietly, hoping to catch Dais off guard. She knew it would never happen though, because since the summer had started Dais's senses had gotten sharper. Yet, it was good to try. Getting close to the section of tunnels Dais had made his home, she smelt something metallic. Blood. Over the months of living with Dais, she had come to learn the smell of the stuff very well. The tunnels she lived in now reeked of it, and lots of it. Taking off, she tore through the tunnels, running towards the scene of the blood shed.  
Stopping dead in her tracks, just at the opening to Dais's study, Briar gasped. Coming from just under the curtain they used as a door, which now was torn and shredded by somethings claws, was a pale hand. Blood stained the wrist, and pooled about on the tunnel floor below it. Scared as to what this may be, Briar tore open the curtain, and almost vomited from the sight that greeted her.  
On the floor of the tunnel, spread eagle on his back, lay Adam. Glazed eyes opened wide in death, he looked at her unblinkingly. Stepping around him, and trying to avoid the pool of blood he lay in, Briar gagged. "Adam? What the hell..why was he here?" She looked at him, seeing the extent of his wounds. From his chest to his legs was ripped open, deep gashes tracing themselves along his torso. Both arms and legs were bare, the clothes having been shredded. Underneath the small bits of fabric that were left of his shirt and pants sat hundreds of large cuts. All of these things might have been survivable, but the last wound was a death death blow.  
The side of Adam's throat was torn open, the jugular had been sliced by the four long marks that trailed across the rest of his throat as well. Seeing this, only one thing came to Briar's mind.  
"Dais!" she yelled, now scared for the safety of her lover. "Dais!" Turning, she surveyed the room, for the first time seeing the disaster that it was. The table was knocked over, everything on it spread across the floor. Books were torn and tossed about, mixed with the littered remains of all of Dais's herbs and medicines. The candles that once sat about the room to provide light now lay against the floor, only a few of the higher up ones still lit. Briar moved about the room, popping her head into their bedroom, looking for Dais. He was no where to be seen. As fast as she could, Briar moved to the other side of the table, half expecting to see Dais laying on the floor dead.  
When no such sight greeted her, she let out a breath she had not known she was holding. Turning to get up, Briar saw something that made her gasp.  
Against the wall, the roses that Dais had kept were gone. The stems lay torn against the cement, the buds crushed on the floor. There was not a single rose left, each of them having been destroyed. Briar knew this was a sign, Dais loved these roses more than life itself, more than anything in the world. To have let them be trashed like that without doing everything he could to stop them from dying, meant that there had to be something wrong with him.  
With renewed fever, she called out to him, her voice panicking. "Dais! DAIS! Where are you?" She got no reply, just as she had before. Quickly, she moved from the rooms, and finding no one there, exited the tunnels as fast as she could. As she stepped over Adam's body he reached up and grabbed her ankle. Briar screamed, trying to pull away. He looked at her, mouth opening as he tried to say something. Only a bubble of blood poured from his mouth. With a rage she had never felt before, Briar took her other foot and came down hard against Adam's skull. He let go of her ankle and she almost hopped over Adam's body, leaving it there to rot.  
Briar got to the grate that lead to the alley in which Dais had saved her life for the second time. Putting one hand on the ladder, she felt something slick under her fingers. The light of the moon above shone through the grates, lighting up her hand as she moved it to her face. It was red, the blood dripping off slowly as it trickled down her hand. She stopped, the fear that had been growing the whole time now reaching the highest it had ever been. Adam had never made it this far, so it could not be his blood. That only left on more person. Dais.  
Briar climbed up the ladder, moving as fast as she could. Pulling herself from the grates opening, she moved into the alleyway. Standing in the air, cold for a summer night, she looked about the area. Seeing nothing, Briar began to move from the alley towards the street. A noise from the back of the alley drew her attention, and Briar found herself moving towards it before she even noticed her feet had begun to move.  
Another crash came from behind the small laundromat that made up the farthest wall in the alley. Arriving at the source, Briar nearly cried out. From a pile of garbage bags and cans rose Dais, one of his clawed hands gripping the ladder that lead to the roof.  
Ignoring her presence for the time being, Dais stood up shakily, trying to climb the ladder. He failed, as after only a few rungs, he fell backwards and into the pile of garbage bags. "DAIS!" Briar cried out, rushing forward to meet him. Falling to her knees beside him, she got a good look at the marks on his back. Deep cuts ran along his shoulders, mixing with the ones that were lashed across the rest of his torso. His once pale ivory skin now held a red tint from the blood that had ran from these wounds. Dais shook slightly, his back and shoulders convulsing.  
Gently she lay one hand on his shoulder, trying to turn him over. From under the thick blanket of dreads surrounding his face, Dais's whispering voice came out, pleading to her. "Don't look Briar. Please don't look." Something in his voice made her bite her lip, from the sound of it, the wounds on his back where not the worst.  
"I hate it when you try to boss me around." she breathed, moving him to face her. The second her eyes set on him, she nearly collapsed in tears.  
There was little to nothing recognizable about the man before her. His chest and face were covered in slashes, many of them crossing each other. Only one stared at her, the other one completely gone, a large slash mark tracing itself down the side of his face. He clutched his stomach, his two arms wrapped about his waist, covered in slash marks as well. Blood ran over his arms, his pants soaked in the stuff already. Staring at the amount of blood on his pants, Briar gasped.  
"Most of that is Adam's." Dais looked at his jeans as well. Moving his head, letting out a wince of pain as he did, Dais looked at the ladder. "Briar, will you help me. Help me up there, please?" With a motion of his neck, Briar saw that he wanted her to help him onto the roof. At first she wanted to tell him no, but seeing the state he was in, Briar could not do it. Biting her lip, she nodded, and moved to wrap her arms around his waist. One clawed hand stopped her, and she looked up directly in Dais's face. He shook his head sullenly, and put his free arm around her shoulder. The other did not move from his waist, now hugging it tighter than before. Briar knew there was something there he did not want her to see, and for the moment, she let it go. Hauling him up, very much like the way she had done all those months ago when he had taken the knife to the kidney.  
As much as she wanted to say that the experience with the thugs in the alley had been one of the worst parts of her life, she had to admit it was one that she would not change. It had lead to her and Dais getting together, and knowing how hard headed Dais was, had he never believed himself dieing, he may never have confessed his love to her. Her left hand gripped one of the rungs of the ladder, pulling herself up, helping him as he pulled himself up beside her.  
Rung after rung, they climbed to the top of the roof. Briar was breathing hard, her breath hitching in her chest. Just keep moving, hand over hand. Hand over hand. The idea ran through her head, repeating itself over and over. Beside her, Dais moved silently, one hand wrapped about his waist, the other around her shoulders. His feet moved over the rungs, the sheer strength in his legs pushing him upward. Briar was his arms for the moment, and he seemed to be focused on the ladder before him.  
Slowly but surely they reached the top of the roof, both of them collapsing over the ledge in exhaustion. Briar slumped against the brick ledge, looking at Dais with concern. He sat near her, clutching his waist still, crouched on two, one hand supporting him. From the movement of his back, she could tell his breaths were becoming more ragged. Stiff from carrying his bulk, Briar shrugged her shoulders, one hand coming up to rub them subconsciously. It came back wet, and for a moment Briar wondered what had happened to her. Then it came back to her, the blood was not hers, it was Dais's. He had bled on her the whole time they had crawled up the ladder, and now the back of her shirt was soaked and sticky with the stuff.  
Wiping her hand over her bulging torso, she moved toward the man on his knees before her. Setting one hand on his back, she set on her knees. Gently, she spread the dreadlocks apart that were blocking his face, calling to him softly. "Dais, darling..whats the matter?" Briar peered into his face, instantly recoiling.  
Dais's face was hard, his one good eye squeezed shut in pain, the teeth that jutted over his lips biting into them, a small trickle of blood running down them. Everything on his face screamed of pain, and yet he still clutched his waist. Briar moved between his large legs, wrapping her arms about his. "Dais, let me see." she called softly, trying to pry his arms from his waist. Reluctantly, but without much fight, Dais allowed her to pull his arms from his waist. Dried blood cracked and flaked as his arm was pulled from the wound it was covering. Briar clasped her hand to her mouth, seeing in full the real damage that had been dealt to her lover.  
The gash ran all the way across his waist, wrapping about his hip. Muscle was slashed and torn, in the places that had not been sliced through it had ripped as he moved. Beneath it, she saw the shadows and the faint color of what she hoped was not his intestines just between the large gash. Now that she had removed his arm from it, the blood that had been blocked now poured free. It ran over his legs, and began to slowly fill the ground at her feet. She looked up at him, and from his expression she could tell he knew this was the end for him. There was something calm about his face, almost as if he had found a serenity of some sort in the whole situation.  
"Dais, we have to get you to Bluue." She pulled on his arm, trying to get him to come with her, only to be stopped once again by his large clawed hand on her arm.  
"It's okay Briar." his voice was thick, yet completely calm. "It is okay, really." at this he gave her a half grin. Slowly he moved, only to fall backwards on his ass when he tried to stand. Briar moved to him, trying to pull him up. Gripping the arm that had been at his waist, she called to him, hands moving against his skin. She caught a glance of something in his hand, clutched tightly between his claws. Slowly she traced her hand up to his, and pulled the blood soaked thing from his grip. Her eyes grew wide for a moment, then began to get bleary with tears. In her hand, she held the small ripped teddy bear that Dais had given her months ago. Looking at him, she found him staring at her, his eye half lidded.  
"Adam, he took a knife to it...I had to save him." One claw came out, and touched the soft fabric of the bear. She smiled at him, and clutched his hand, most of her fingers covering one of his large black fingers.  
"He is safe Dais, you saved him." Briar cooed to him, knowing that she should be moving him to Bluue, getting him some help. Yet there was something stopping her from doing so, so instead she turned back to him and ran one hand through his hair.  
"How are you feeling baby?" her voice choked with emotion. Dais smiled at her, his teeth glinting.  
"Not much. A little cold. Odd isn't it, it was so hot hours ago." he looked at her, his one good eye glazed slightly. "Today is a nice night to die, don't you agree?" he chuckled slightly, showing some of that dark humor he was always using. Slapping his arm slightly, Briar tried not to sob, and smiled at him sadly.  
"That isn't funny mister." she warned, resting her hand on his torn chest. From there, the heartbeat she had felt every night as she slept beside him slowed by a beat or two. Dais was dying she realized, and there was nothing she could do about it. Briar shut her eyes tightly, the tears that had been forming the whole time finally falling onto her cheeks. Sobbing, she leaned the upper part of her body against his side, her face inches above his torn chest. Her free hand now clutched the torn and blood soaked teddy bear to her chest, clutching it as if her life depended on it. Briar's body was racked with heaves as she cried out everything she had been feeling for the last twenty four hours. Everything, from the worry about the baby, to the fact that she loved Dais and he was now dying in her arms came flowing out in a stream.  
Briar did not know how long she had been crying, but she looked up some unknown time later when a hand came up to her face. Dais set his large hand against her, cradling her cheek in his palm as his fingers settled softly against the side of her face. It was uncanny sometimes, how this man's hands fit so perfectly against her form, as if some godly sculpture had made him for only her. Tears fogging up her eyes, she looked down at him, only to find him staring at her in concern.  
"Don't." he coughed, looking at her sadly. "Please don't Briar. Not now, I could not stomach seeing you cry for me again." Briar shut her eyes tightly, and nodded to him. A smile graced Dais's face once again, and a moment later, he shifted with a small grunt of pain. "Now, may I ask you a favor my love?"  
Again Briar nodded, still trying to reign in her emotions. Dais looked at her for a long moment, then pulled himself up slightly. "May I rest in my head in your lap?" a blush ran across his face, almost as if this act of intimacy was too much for him to think about.  
"Okay." was Briar's hushed response. Taking him by the arm, she helped him maneuver himself around. With both hands on his broad shoulders, she began to set him down against him, stopping each time he grunted in pain. After a few moments of situating himself in her lap, he looked up at her, arms crossed over his waist, hands resting on his chest. For the most part, he looked comfortable.  
"Thank you, this is exactly what I wanted." Dais mumbled to Briar, causing her to smile sadly. Together they sat there silent for a moment, as he breathed in and out, the movement getting harder and harder to detect, and as Briar ran her hand through his hair to sooth him. Above them, the stars grew bright in the darkening sky.


	46. Tis But Death

Blood trickled from between two pale lips, and each breath he drew was getting harder and harder to keep in his lungs. In all aspects, Dais believed that maybe the act of dying itself was the worst part of death. This at least, was the theory he had come to over the last few minutes. Dais could feel his lungs filling with blood as it quickly became harder and harder to breath, and realized that he could never remember feeling his lungs so vividly before. Odd how things like internal organs are forgotten until they are failing you. He glanced up at Briar, seeing her looking into his face, worry etched into every fine line. Deciding that he could not die silently as he had first intended, Dais spoke to her.  
"I am sorry, Briar. So sorry." his voice was raspy, the whisper it was normally taking on a husky quality as he struggled to breathe. When Briar did not speak, but gave him a look of confusion, Dais continued on. "For doing what I did...to Adam. He gave me no choice but to take his life..." He trailed off, letting out a cough that sprayed a few fleck of blood into the air. "It was me or him, and damn it all if it didn't end up being both of us."  
Briar ran one hand along his face, trying to remember each form that made him up. "Adam had it coming, Dais. Whatever you did was justified...I just wish that it hadn't, maybe if I could have spoken to him again this wouldn't have..." Briar trailed off, the tears threatening to fall from her eyes once again. Biting her lip, she shook her head clearing those thoughts.  
A voice from her lap made her start, as she had forgotten that Dais lay there against her stomach. "I can hear the child's heartbeat." Dais murmured. He inclined his head slightly, a smile gracing his face. "She sounds so beautiful, just like her mother." Briar looked at him in surprise, hearing him call the child a she.  
"Did you just say SHE?" When he nodded, Briar put a hand to her stomach, blinking in confusion. "Why do you say it is a girl?"  
Dais cracked his one eye open, staring at her with the look he often saved for when she was acting slow. "Darling, I know she is a girl because I know." When Briar did not respond, only raising an eyebrow at his suggestion, he waved one hand at her playfully. "Now is not the time to start doubting me Briar."  
Again they sat in silence, the only noise being the few times Dais was thrown into a coughing fit, his breathing getting worse by the minute. Soon though, Briar broke the silence with something that was on her mind for a while. "Why the roof?" she asked, looking at the man in her lap as one of her hands moved through his hair, playing with a few of the thick black dreadlocks near his forehead.  
"Hm?" Dais did not glance up, his eye shut almost as if he were asleep. From the side of his mouth, a small trickle of blood ran. Nervously, Briar wiped at it with her thumb.  
"Why are we on the roof?" she asked again, wiping the trickle of blood away each time it reappeared.  
"The stars. I have rarely ever seen the stars." he looked up, past Briar and into the sky above him. " But the moon came slowly up in all her gentle glory, and the stars looked out, and through the small compass of the grated window, as through the narrow crevice of one good deed in a murky life of guilt, the face of Heaven shone bright and merciful. He raised his head; gazed upward at the quiet sky, which seemed to smile upon the earth in sadness, as if the night, more thoughtful than the day, looked down in sorrow on the sufferings and evil deeds of men; and felt its peace sink into him." One clawed hand moved slowly, stretching up to the blanket of blue and black far above its reach.  
When Briar did not react, Dais glanced at her mildly surprised. "That is from Dickens's book, Barnaby Rudge. One of my personal favorites about the heavens."  
"Dais," Briar rolled her eyes. Even now the man was quoting his books. "Do you ever stop thinking?" She smiled at him, causing him to chuckle slightly.  
"See? Even in the darkest of moments a good quip can make things a little brighter." At this he placed the hand he had kept towards the sky back on her cheek. Nuzzling his palm slightly, Briar sighed. The cold night air was made worse by the wet blood that had soaked into her pants, and she began to worry about how the stress of this would affect the baby.  
"Dais, we should really call Bluue, she can help." for the first time in a while she voiced to him that she wanted to save him. He coughed violently, his chest heaving as he tried to get any little bit of air. Briar put her hands on his shoulders, sitting him up slightly so he could breath right. Sitting against her, he heaved, blood now pouring from his lips.  
"Set...set me back down.." he hacked, sputtering as the blood came rushing from his mouth. Briar did as she was asked, setting him back against her lap. She got a good view of his chin, now stained red from the blood. "Tha.." he coughed a little, his voice growing smaller and smaller. "Thank you."  
"We can't move you, can we?" Briar asked, her voice becoming strained as she tried not to cry. Dais shook his head slowly, coughing once from the exertion.  
"I fear it is too late for such things." he murmured. Seeing the look on Briar's face, one of fear and pain, he continued on. "It has been for a while now, even before you arrived." Still Briar said nothing, tears she could not stop running from her eyes. Dais's gaze softened, trying to comfort his lover. "None of this is your fault, you know." This must have been on her mind, for the second he said it, Briar burst into fresh tears, locking her arms around his neck. Squeezing him tightly, she sobbed into his neck, apologizing for not being there.  
"Dais, I am so.." she hiccuped. "So sorry. If I had been there maybe I could have...then he wouldn't have..maybe you wouldn't be like this...maybe you wouldn't be..."Briar sniffed slightly, trying to reign in her emotions. All the time she cried into his shoulder, Dais did not speak, letting her pour out everything she felt as he patted her arm slightly.  
After a long moment, he spoke. "It is better this way. Had you been there, he would have killed you. Briar, the things he said about what he was planning for you, I could not take it. What I did to him...it was purely rage, and even now I can not feel sorry for it." Dais coughed a little, eyes staring at the sky above him. Briar looked at him, catching his glance for a moment before he returned it to the sky. It was glazed even more, and from the placement of her arms on his body she felt his heart slowing even more. Briar kissed the side of his head, running her hand down his jaw slowly. She tried to ignore the wetness of the blood that still trickled from his wounds. His heart was slowing more, his breathing becoming more shallow and sometimes seemed to stop completely. When she spoke his name again, nothing came back. Thinking him dead, she sat up quickly to get a better look at his face.  
"Dais?" she called again, touching his face lightly. The second her fingertip brushed his skin, his eye jerked open, staring at her.  
"What?" he asked, followed by a thick cough that brought blood up. Briar helped him, setting him up so that he could breath better. After a few moments of hacking up, what in all reality could have been a lung, he settled back down.  
"Briar." he called softly, looking up at her. Looking down at him, she knew the end was near. The red of his lips was gone, and they now were an ashen blue, and the normal fire that radiated from his skin had dulled and was now fading faster each second.  
"Dais.." she sniffed, trying not to cry. His good eye fixed on her, and he smiled weakly.  
"Please don't cry Briar." His hand rested itself against her face, cradling it. "I was planning on doing this alone, but I now see that was wrong. I need you here, its right." Briar smiled sadly, leaning down and placing a kiss on his bloodied and cold lips. He responded as he could, lifting them against hers slightly. "Briar..." Dais trailed off, something shining in his eyes for a moment.  
"What is it Dais?" wanting to keep him talking, Briar moved closer, letting her stomach rest against the top of his head and praying the child did not kick.  
"I love you, you know that right?" He looked at her, the glaze that had been there before gone, the red orb that was left startlingly clear. "I do, with all my heart. You and the child, everything was meant for the good of you both."  
Placing her finger on his lips, Briar shushed him. He grew silent for a moment, then started again. "Rose."  
Briar did not know how to react to this, so she did as one is oft to do when surprised, and repeated him. "Rose?" Dais nodded slightly, moving his hand that did not lie on her cheek to her stomach.  
"Her name. Rose. I want her to be named Rose." He patted the swell of her abdomen that was their child, and smiled sweetly. "A beautiful rose should be named as such."  
Briar nodded, placing her hand over his. "Rose it is." Dais smiled at her, teeth stained with his own blood but still the smiling joking man she loved so much. His gaze clear and sharp as the day she met him in all his glory, he stared at the sky longingly. Slowly he reached up, and pulled Briar's free hand down to his level. Placing the soft hand on his heart, he rested his large blackened one over hers.  
"Briar...have you ever seen the stars so bright?" these last words were a whisper, but they were spoken without a hint of the difficulty that had been in his speech since he got hurt. Briar looked above, her head tilting far from the face of her lover to see what he was talking about. Amazement came to her eyes a moment later as she took in the brightly glowing heavenly bodies above them. Tonight they shone brighter than anytime she had ever seen them before, casting a soft glow into the blackness about them. Awed and pleased that she had been able to see this, Briar turned back to her lover.  
"They are beautiful tonight, Dais." Briar noticed something wrong, Dais did not move, his good eye settled on the heavens above him. Her hand resting on his chest felt no heartbeat, and no breath passed from between his lips. At the last moment he had, Dais had turned her gaze from him and slipped away as she took in the stars he so loved. He was dead.


	47. A Rose for the Dead

Her arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders, hauling his now limp body closer to her. Hugging him to her tightly, Briar called for her lover. "Dais, no. Not without me, please. Don't go where I can't...not now. Dais...DAIS!" she sobbed, head resting on his now still chest.  
For some unknown time Briar sobbed against his still form, crying for the loss of her love. Nothing mattered, not time, not life. Nothing mattered now that he had left her. On that rooftop, her arms wrapped around the lifeless form of her lover, Briar waited for death. The air about her grew colder, and a slight sprinkle of rain began to fall. Growing faster and faster, the rain hit the ground, soon soaking everything in its path. It washed the world of dirt, and after a while it washed the blood from the lovers on the rooftop.  
Once someone dies, it is said that their blood no longer moves. This was true for Dais, as once his heart had stopped beating, no more blood flowed from his wounds. The cleansing rains washed the red of the crimson liquid from his alabaster skin, and cleared the gashes and marks running along his body of the junk that had built up as he fought his way to the rooftop. A trickle of water ran along his head and over his hair, making the oil black dreadlocks that adorned his crown shine in the night. The blood now cleared from his wounded eye, one could see that the eyelid had been slashed, and the damage to the eye below it had been major. Both lids were now closed, his eyes forever shut and in this sense Dais looked at peace.  
Shivering, Briar clung to him, unwilling to let him go for anything. She felt nothing, heard nothing, and saw nothing except the body of Dais, tragically plucked from life. Silent as the grave, she waited for death. Moments after settling herself into to follow him, Briar felt something flutter in her stomach. Once, twice it moved, then suddenly it kicked. She flinched, the pain snapping her out of her delusion of death. Their child, Briar was still carrying his child.  
"Rose." she muttered, one hand leaving Dais's body to rest on her stomach. "I forgot about Rose." In the rain, she sobbed slightly, a smile tracing her face. "Our daughter, our daughter needs me." Briar spoke aloud to herself, forcing herself to get up. Gently she lowered Dais from her lap and onto the concrete. His body settled against the concrete lightly, making little to no sound. Sparing him a glance, Briar hauled herself to her feet, and pulled the small cellphone given to her by Bluue from a pocket.  
Dialing the older woman’s number in the rain was no easy task, and Briar's vision was already bleary do to the crying she had been doing over the last hour or so. Finally getting the number right, she prayed to whoever decided to watch over her all these years.  
On the first ring, Bluue picked up, her voice sounding groggy on the other side of the phone. "Hello? Briar?" All at once Briar yelled into the phone, explaining everything in one breath, letting everything out. After she had finished and was sucking in air as she tried not to sob again, Bluue responded to her cries. "Dais is hurt?" something in the older womans voice tightened, sounding frightened. "How hurt is he? Are you alright?"  
Briar assured her that she was fine, but she needed to get over to Dais's alley as soon as she could. After a quick reply that she was on her way, Briar clicked off the phone. Wincing slightly, she felt the child kick again, now moving around more than it normally did. Thinking nothing of it, she settled herself next to Dais, resting her head on his chest. Almost every night since she had been stabbed by the man she thought she loved, Briar had slept beside this man and heard the thunder of his heart. To see the same chest, although scratched and torn, but not see the gentle movement of his breathing or hear the pounding of that miraculous heart was disturbing. Looking down on his still form in the rain, Briar saw the rain that fell from the sky formed a ring about him. The white splatter of the rain as it bounced from the cement gave him a soft white halo, and the rain that pooled along the thick lids of his eyes slid from the corners, almost as if he was crying somehow.  
Hair plastered to her head, Briar rested herself near him, her head laying on his chest as one hand held onto his arm. Silently, she cried, no longer sobbing or calling for him to return. The kicks in her stomach her getting more painful and harder as the child in her womb began to stir wildly. It was thinking over how much of a handful their daughter was going to be, Briar came on the startling revelation of her biggest problem. She had never told him, in all the nights of love making, or when he had cuddled with her after, she had never said it. Even when the word fell from his lips like petals, and he showed her that he meant every word time and time again, Briar had never once said it to him. She had never told him she loved him.  
Knowing it was too late, Briar still wanted to let him know that she did love him. Closing her eyes wearily, Briar settled her head on his chest, her hands resting just under her chin. Voice soft and barely audible, she professed everything to him.  
"I love you. Dais, I completely, and uncontrollably am in love with you. Somehow I fell for you, and I never got the chance to tell you, but I do honestly and truly love you." Silent now, Briar rested her eyes on him, the rain pouring from the sky harder than it had before. Nothing made a sound except the rain against the concrete, and Briar's slow breaths as she tried to rest. "Dais, please don't leave me." These last words were whispered, falling from her lips in a dying plea. How she would give anything to see those red eyes snap open and look at her softly. To see that shark like grin spread over his face when she fucked up some obscure quote, and his gentle teasing about it after correcting her. Anything to be able to see that wicked intelligence playing on his tragically handsome features as he puzzled on some problem from the world above him. Anything but this awful, and disgusting stillness.


	48. I'd Give Up Forever

Dais could not feel a thing. Every fiber of his being was numb. So damned numb. It was a disturbing revelation, one he quickly decided he needed to fix. As quickly as his foggy mind would let him, he ran over everything that had happened. Nothing, nothing came to his mind. For a man who had spent his entire life relying on his wit and sharp mind, it was utterly terrifying.  
Forcing his mind to move in more than one way, he began to rip the tendrils of fog from his thoughts. Memories swam past him in the darkness that surrounded him entirely.  
A fight, and Adam's throat under his claws. Tearing flesh, both his own and Adam's. Pain. Pain as in the last throws of death, the man had slammed his knife into Dais's stomach. Claws releasing Adam as he clutched the knife, wrenching it from his body. Blood bubbling from the corners of Adam's mouth as he cursed him even into death. Moving faster, he watched as the last events in his life played before him.  
Stumbling in the dark of the tunnel, trying to reach the street. Sliding his torn and broken body across cold cement, he remembered thinking only to see Briar once more. Things blurred, and the images moved faster. Briar finding him, their journey to the roof. Blood soaked confessions, rain, or was that her tears? He did not know. Finally the stars, brighter than he had ever seen in his lifetime, and the heartbeats of both his lover and his child as everything faded to the black. The final strands of the fog pulled themselves from his mind, and he felt a sudden pang of realization.  
That was it. Dais realized where he was. He was dead. For a moment he was speechless, his mind going blank. After another moment, one thought came to mind. "Well, this is quiet the unexpected predicament." A smirk tugged at the side of his mouth, splitting the red lips to reveal a smile made of dozens of sharp pointed teeth underneath.  
What would Briar say, if she were to learn that the first thing to come to his mind after realizing he was dead was something so logical. She would roll her eyes, and smile softly. Maybe she would make a teasing comment about how his mind never shut off. Even in death.  
There is was again. That word. Death. He remembered dying, the struggle it was to get his breath as he hung onto his last threads of life before the fates cut him from the mortal plain. Yet, funnily enough, he could not remembering the death itself. Fascinating. Afforded a look at what surrounded him, Dais examined his afterlife. All in all, it was rather boring. Blackness surrounded him, broken only by a small dot of light far above his head. Not that he had expected angel wings, or trumpets playing. Yet, whatever powers that be could have done something, even if it was just send him to hell. A sigh escaped his lips, and Dais knew then that such a place was not for him. How long was he to wait in the dark? If there was a hell, or a heaven, he must surely have earned his way into one! The former or the latter, at the moment he did not care. Anything, even brimstone and fire would be better than the suffocating nothingness that made up his current surroundings.  
Left with his thoughts, Dais could not decide whether this was hell, or heaven. Before such a thing was all he could ask for, to be alone with only his mind for company. Yet now, he could not stand his voice being the only one he heard. Again he sighed, the sound going no further than his own ears. For the first time in over a year, he was left with only himself as company.  
Again he sighed to fill the silence.  
After a little while, he began to grow bored. He had no track of time, but it seemed as if he had been there both forever and for a second simultaneously. Wanting anything to distract him from his boredom, he tried to play little games with himself. Yet, in time even this grew tiresome. How he longed for something, anything to distract him! Even an obscure reference that he would need explained to him later. Not for the first time since meeting her, Dais longed for Briar and the chaos she brought into his everyday life.  
Then, almost as if any answer to his prayers he heard it. Her voice drifted to him in the darkness. "Dais, no. Now without me, please. Don't go where I can't...not now. Dais...DAIS!" her voice was choked with emotion, overflowing with the sound of tears and grief. His heart wrenched at the sound of her grieving over him. Dais drew his eyes toward the dot of light above him. Trying to forget the sound of her begging him not to go. As he wished, her voice disappeared. Almost like smoke, it faded from his mind, once more leaving him in the silence.  
"I am so sorry, Briar. So so sorry." he whispered, shutting his eyes tightly.  
In the darkness of his afterlife, Dais once more felt his heart twitch. An odd sensation for one who had not felt the rhythm of their heart beating for some time. Red eyes cast themselves on his pale chest. They then moved upward, and instantly widened. The light above him that was once a mere strand had gotten larger. It seemed almost as if it had gotten closer as well. As he tried to asses all of the weird things that were happening to him, her voice once more floated toward him in the dark.  
"Dais, wherever you are, listen to me. What I am about to tell you is hard for me, but here it goes. Somehow I fell for you, after everything, all the bullshit and hell we have been through, I fell for you. I fell hard, and I never got the chance to tell you. I am so sorry I was so stubborn, but I do honestly and truly love you. I am completely and uncontrollably in love with you." She paused, voice seeming to fade slightly.  
"Wait!" Dais called out, his voice echoing slightly. He moved one had toward the light, trying to call her voice back.  
A second later it came back, stronger than ever. "There ya go, you jerk. I love you." Again her voice faded to nothing.  
Dais was shocked, his eyes wide in surprise. She loved him? SHE loved HIM? She loved him! Happiness spread through his body, almost pouring from every pore. A grin spread over his face, and he could not help but shout it out loud. "She loves me! SHE loves me! She loves ME! She lov..." the smile faded as he realized that it no longer mattered. He had the unfortunate luck of being deceased, and it was not like he could go back. Could he?  
Casting his eyes once more to the dot of light above him, he noticed that it had in fact gotten closer. It was not too far above him, maybe a few hundred feet. Quickly, he looked about. There really was no reason he could not go back, even if for a moment. Somethings needed to be done, things not yet finished. There was somethings he HAD to live for. "Dais, please don't leave me." This final plea kicked started something in Dais's will. Setting his hands on the inky black about him, he found himself able to touch it. Thrusting one claw into the substance, he began to crawl toward the light, hoping it would take him to where he was needed.


	49. Pain's Extent

Thump. Briar jerked her head up, startled by the sound. She looked about herself quickly, searching for the source of the noise. When nothing came forward as the culprit, she looked at the man before her. Nervously, she put her head against his chest, and waited with baited breath. Nothing for a moment, then another thump. Moments after, it was followed by another and another. The sound was coming from Dais, and Briar could not believe it. His heart, it sounded as if his still heart was forcing itself to move once more. Sitting up from him, she put both hands over her mouth in surprise.  
"Oh god..." she trailed off, now seeing his chest move up and down slightly as his body dragged in air. She threw herself on his chest, willing him to continue breathing, to keep his heart pumping as she waited for Bluue. Tears of joy fell from eyes she thought long dry. They mixed with the rain water pouring into her face, and Briar smiled as she wrapped both arms about his neck and shoulders.  
Dais lived. For how long she did not know, but it could not be long with the wounds he had if Bluue did not show up. Happiness spread its way through her, burning in her veins as she looked to the heavens. Who ever was up there was looking out for them, and she thanked them. Briar Gantz had been given a second chance to love the man she now cradled in her arms. By god, there was no way she was going to squander this chance. Now, if only Bluue would get there in time.  
Her smiled faded slightly, as another kick from the child slammed into her intestines, followed by another. In all the months she carried this child, it had never kicked as it was now. Briar did not get a chance to ponder on this, as seconds after landing a fifth kick to her insides Briar felt her pants get wet. Looking down, she saw the front of her pants growing darker, having mostly been dry as they were sitting under Dais and away from the rain. Now a liquid spread its way down her legs, and across the front of her jeans.  
With a stifled moan Briar realized what had just happened. Her water broke, and that meant only one thing. Her child was coming into the world. A shooting pain ripped through her gut, forcing her to let go of Dais. He slid to the concrete, his chest still moving shallowly. Briar cried out as another one hit her, the pain making her double over as it moved through her.  
"Why now?" she cried, biting her lip in pain. Her body spasmed as the child began to move about uncontrollably. Briar breathed in heavily, for some odd reason her lungs unable to draw in any air. The pain was intense, wrapping itself about her as she cried out. Somewhere in the distance, a car door slammed and was followed by a voice yelling her name.  
"Briar! Briar where are you!" It was Bluue, and Briar called out, the cry cut out when another spasm ripped through her.  
"Bluue! The baby! The baby is cominnggaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"  
Hugging her abdomen, Briar moaned out as another contraction hit her. Moments before her water had broke, and now it seemed as if the child were trying to tear itself out of her. Each spasm of muscles was so painful, she cried out with each one.  
"Aaaaah!" she bit her lip, trying to muffle the scream that escaped despite her efforts. Below her, a car door slammed, and footsteps echoed through the alleyway.  
"Briar?" A voice called, sounding worried and stressed. The sound of it drew her eyes to the ladder on the roof. How was she going to make it down there? Her legs would not stop shaking, let alone support her weight for the journey.  
"Bluue?" she called out, trying to get the older woman's attention. The sound of footsteps got louder and closer. As yet another contraction rolled through her muscles, Briar called out to Bluue. "Bluue! We're on the roof!" Her voice grew strained, and Briar could no longer catch her breath. It was as if someone had cut off her air supply, leaving her to suffocate. She heard distant sounds, someone speaking but she could not make out the words. Sparing a glance to the man below her, she saw his chest had stopped moving once more. The blood that had pooled about him once his heart had started bleeding once more covered his body, washing off him by the rain. Yet a new puddle of blood grew, creeping along the cement roof. It snaked toward Dais, and after a moment of staring at it dumbly, she realized who's blood it was. It was hers. Eyes widening, she looked down. From between her legs came a river of blood. It mixed with the rain, turning the river a pinkish color.  
"Bluue!" she nearly screamed. Feeling faint, Briar tried to sit up. Bracing herself upwards, she soon fell backwards as her arms gave way underneath her. Rain splattered her face as she tried to move. It did no good. Something was wrong with her baby, and there was nothing she could do about it. Weak from loss of blood, the world swam and faded before her eyes. Noises became muffled, and the sky blurred.  
A face came out of the darkness, its mouth opened wide in fear, both eyes staring directly at her. From her side came a muffled familiar voice, even if her mind could not process what it was saying.  
"Oh god!" The voice sounded panicked. "Hold on sweetheart, Ive got you." Calling to someone else, the voice moved away. Seconds later big strong arms encircled her, hauling her up. Blearily she called to the person holding her, their strong arms reminding her of Dais.  
"Please, help us."  
From there on her world was just a set of flashes. A car ride with a large man. Another set of arms grabbing her and hauling her from the car. Just a glance at another two men grabbing Dais's body from the car behind her. The soft electric hum of an elevator and the glow of florescent lighting. Bluue's face swam in and out of view, never leaving her side. Sometimes she was shouting orders, sometimes she was cooing to her that everything was going to be alright. A moment later, she was surrounded by the warmth of a bed. Briar turned her head slightly as the cold and wet clothes were stripped from her body. Eyes settling on the bed beside hers. It was blocked from her view by a large black man, his arms empty as he bent over the bed's side. He turned, giving Briar a good look at the other patient.  
Laying on the other bed, both hands at his sides was Dais. A mask was set over his face, a tube in his throat. Bluue shouted orders for the paddles to be used. "His heart has started twice since we got to them! All we need to do is try to get it going and keep it going that way! Tyrese, you cover the wounds and Bane, you are in charge of keeping his damn heart beating! Sharon and Tim, I need you here stat!" Briar looked at the older woman above her. One hand brushed a few wet hairs from her face. "Briar? Briar darling, can you hear me?"  
Briar nodded, her voice coming out as a whisper. "Bluue, I hurt everywhere..."  
Something like worry passed over the woman's face, and she spoke slowly. "Briar, listen to me. You are bleeding out. It seems a vein burst in your uterus. We have to cauterize the wound." Briar stared at her, trying to make sense of what she was saying.  
"Wha.." something stuck her in the arm, the pain dulling the feeling. A liquid, hot and heavy, poured into her arm. It was making her more tired that she was before, her eyes drooped and Briar found she did not have the strength to pull them back up. Bluue's voice faded in and out, as her eyes shut. Lulled by the rhythmic symphony of beeps and the heat of some unknown drug, Briar fell asleep.  
************************  
She woke to soft rays of sunlight hitting her face. A groan escaped her, and Briar cracked open a weary eye. Nothing moved in the room, silence broken only by a few beeps and pings from a nearby machine. Moving her stiff muscles, Briar rolled over, hissing at the pain that ran through her hips as she did so.  
"Holy fuck.." she murmured, one hand reaching behind her to rub the sore muscles. "Feels like I was run over by a truck..."  
"I have been told that is what it feels like after." A voice quipped from the doorway. Turning herself on the bed, Briar looked at her visitor. Settled in the doorway, was Bluue, dressed in a light tanktop, with a plain pair of jeans and a belt looped about her waist. Her red hair was pulled back slightly, and it seemed wet.  
"Oh...thank god its you." Briar mumbled, looking at the older woman. Something passed her face as she stood in the doorway looking at her. "What?" she asked nervously.  
"Briar, darling. There is something you need to know..." her voice was soft, and each word seemed well practiced.  
"Oh god," Briar put a hand to her stomach protectively, only to realize it was bandaged. Gauze and cotton wrapped her waist and hips, some of it stained red with blood. "Bluue, did something...did something happen to my baby?" she asked, her voice growing smaller with each word. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she stared at Bluue, waiting for her answer.  
The older woman looked at her, eyes steady as she confessed to Briar. "You passed out after we gave you the medication...but even after we carterized the vein, you did not stop bleeding. We had to, Briar. I'm sorry, but we had too."  
"Had to what?" her voice was strained. Why wouldn't Bluue just tell her what the fuck had happened to her baby.  
"We had to do an emergency C-section. It's a simple procedure, but it complicates things. If you were to ever get pregnant again, there is a high chance of you not carrying it to full term. You could even die...I'm sorry Briar, but I made a decision to save your life. I can not stress that enough."  
"Where is my baby?" Briar asked, deciding to worry about her next child later. That was, if there was ever going to be a NEXT child. Sparing a glance to the bed beside her in the tiny room. Briar noticed it was now empty. "And where is Dais?"  
At this Bluue bit her lip, suddenly looking pained. "Dais...we did not get to him in time. Once we had made sure you were going to make it, we checked him over, but there was some major damage done to his internal organs, as well as the rest of his body."  
"Is he..is he dead?" Briar choked out, knowing that he had died once before in her arms, and could not stand the thought of him falling once again into the blackness now that they had their child.  
"Oh no. Well, not technically. We have him on life support in the other room. Now Briar, I have to tell you. His heart does not seem to want to beat on its own. At the moment we have a machine hooked up to him to try and restart it every time it stops, but even that is causing more harm than good. He has a breathing tube down his throat to provide oxygen to his brain, but there is no reaction. From all aspects, Dais is brain dead, and even if he does not die, he might spend the rest of his life as a vegetable..."  
She trailed off, letting the information sink into Briar's mind. Staring at the empty bed sullenly, Briar tried to figure it out. How could this all have happened? Dais was only twenty something, young and virile even for a man his age. Smart and clever, he had relied on his brains his entire life, even when he could have gotten things easier using his brawn. Yet now that same man lay in another room, brain dead, a machine breathing for him as another kept his unwilling heart to keep pumping.  
"Briar..." Bluue's voice cut into her thoughts. "I thought it best to ask you before we pull the plug...do you want us too?"  
For a moment, she said nothing. Then she spoke up, eyes watering slightly. "A day. One more day." Bluue nodded, deciding not to argue with the girl. It would only make her more upset.  
"Now..enough of these depressing things!" she forced a smile on her face for the new mother. "Lets see that beautiful baby."  
Briar nodded, smiling slightly at the thought. Bluue left the room, coming back moments later with a small bundle in her arms. Carefully, she walked across the floor, eventually sitting herself on the edge of Briar's bed. "Briar," she announced quietly. "Meet your daughter." Softly, she laid the bundle in Briar's outstretched arms. Taking the child, she smiled, pulling back the cover wrapped about her daughter to have a look at her.  
"Oh my, oh my god." Briar whispered. "She is so beautiful." Looking at the infant cradled in her arms, she once more almost began to cry. White hair, full and thick adorned her head. A pale chubby body was covered mostly by the blanket, but one little hand poked its way out of the fabric. It was tiny, and wrinkled. Milky white skin was stretched over the many folds and dips in her body.  
"We can pass her off as an albino, as long as that hair doesn't change." Bluue murmured, rubbing the child's cheek with one finger lightly. Briar nodded, knowing exactly from whom the child had inherited its pale complexion.  
"Did she get anything else from him?" Briar asked softly, scanning every inch of her newborn for signs of its father.  
"One or two more." Bluue pulled the child's hand up, putting it in front of Briar's face. "Her nails."  
It was true, as the child already had longer fingernails than normal,but it was the coloring that was most disturbing. Each tiny nail was completely black, almost ad if someone had painted them with some sort of polish.  
"Oh, oh my." Briar gasped.  
"My sentiments exactly dear." Bluue smiled slightly. "Even in his child, Dais has to manifest in the oddest ways." Lightly tapping one of the nails against Briar's arm, Bluue continued. "They are hard as rock as well. Like Dais's claws, but less severe. At least she has all five fingers." Lightly chuckling, Bluue rested the child's hand on its chest.  
"Well, at least she will be fashionable." Briar snickered. "Ah, one minute. You said one or two more things...that was only one. What else did she get?"  
"That my dear is the final act." Bluue smiled, reaching down into the blanket. Slowly patting the baby's arm, she tried to wake her up. Two eyes opened slowly, crust from a deep sleep settled in one corner of the child's eyes. Briar watched as her daughter took a first look at her, gasping when she saw the child's eyes fully open.  
Resting in two large pools sat eyes of the purest red. Each orb was deep, and reflective, giving the child a peircing gaze it did not even yet know it had. Yet, unlike the eyes of its father, this child was born with pupils. In the middle of each red pool sat another large dark spot, enhancing the color and depth of them. She blinked twice, seemingly startled for a moment. After getting a chance to see her surroundings, she smiled in that relaxed and happy way babies are oft to do. Slowly, she reached one chubby hand out toward Briar. Letting her grasp her little finger, Briar smiled back.  
"Hey there little one. I'm your momma." A light hearted squeal of happiness, and another smile met her introduction. Briar pressed her forehead against the babies, smiling still. "Rose."  
Bluue looked up, slightly. "Rose?"  
"That is her name. Rose Wyn De Beaumont."  
"Rose." Bluue repeated it slowly. "Its beautiful."  
"Thank her daddy..." she trailed off, eyes water slightly. Holding the infant close, Briar began to hum something softly to herself. It was an old tune, one of the many she had heard Dais hum to himself in the darkness of the tunnels. The words came to her mind slowly, almost as if she were reciting some long forgotten poem.  
Both of Rose's red eyes began to close, as the tune lulled her to sleep. After a few moments, when the child had fallen into the peaceful sleep one can only have when still young, Briar stopped singing. "It's so much better when your daddy sung it." she smiled at her daughter. Looking at Bluue, her eyes shining with the water like sheen of unshed tears. "I want to see Dais now..." her voice trailed off, slightly wavering as she tried to remain calm.  
Silently, Bluue nodded.  
It had been a struggle for Briar to get out of the bed, and it was even more of a struggle to walk across the large suite. Hobbling forward, she limped on toward the room Bluue had chosen to lay Dais in. In her arms, she still held her sleeping child, wanting to at least let Rose near her father once. Stopping in the doorway of the room, Briar drew in a large breath. Inside that room, just beyond the doorway, lay the love of her life, and the father of her daughter. Bluue had warned her that seeing him this way might be hard, and that it might be the last time she ever saw him. Steeling herself, she entered the room.  
Everything was quiet, dead almost. A few machines hummed and binged in the room as they helped to keep Dais alive. The man in question was resting on the bed, his eyes shut in peace, pale face slack in his coma. White covers had been pulled up to his waist, and his long black arms were a stark and blaring contrast to the whiteness that they rested on. Getting closer, Briar sat herself in one of the chairs that had been nestled against his bedside. On the drawer near his left side sat a small cup of tea. Its green vine pattern splattered itself across the porcelain, and Briar immediately recognized the design. It was Bluue's favorite cup. Ever since she had first met the woman, Briar had never once seen her drink tea out of any other cup. From the look of it, it seemed as if Bluue had stayed by Dais's side as she had slept.  
The warm spot in her heart that was reserved for the converted scientist once again grew warm. On more than one occasion, Bluue had almost called Dais her son, and Briar would often tease her lover that the older woman was his mother. One night, after settling against him for the night, he had admitted a fondness for the woman and acknowledged something she had only been joking about.  
_"I have been puzzling over something you said to me once Briar." he muttered, one of his arms wrapped about her waist as they lay tangled together under the covers. Grunting lightly as a response, she waited for him to finish his thought.  
"My parentage is a mystery to me. The woman they say was my egg donor helped me escape, and for that I am truly grateful...yet.." he trailed off again, trying to find the words to make his feeling known. Briar patiently waited for him to continue, snuggling against his chest for more warmth. The not yet too large swell of her stomach somewhat prevented her form sleeping as she normally would have,but it was of no matter. Dais moved his arm, pressing her as close as he could get her to himself. "Yet, I was raised solely by my own hand, and never knew anyone as a mother. A father, and a mother were things I did not have. There fore, even though I owe that woman and man my life, do you not think it is more correct of me to think of those who engineered me this way as my parents?"  
Briar sat up, brushing a few of her stray locks from her face. "What do you mean?"  
"Hnnnn, let me think of a good way to say this." Pursing his lips in thought, Dais racked his mind for something to compare his new thought to. After a moment, it hit him. "You are familiar with Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, correct?" When Briar nodded, he continued on. "The creature, though made from the parts of others, never considered those men from whom he was made his father. Nor did he find their parents as his creators. Instead, he found himself calling his creator "Father." I feel it is the same. My parents did not raise me, nor did they create me. I was manufactured by the use of science, and technology far beyond its years. In all seriousness, I was made by the Scientists, and the only one who has ever meant anything to me is Madame' Bluue." For a moment, he grew silent, letting everything he said settle in the quiet of the sewer.  
"So...you are saying that Bluue is like a mother to you?" Briar piped in after a minute. Sighing through his nose as he was oft to do when embarrassed about something he had said or done,Dais shut his eyes.  
"I was just speculating on the odd affection that woman seems to have for me and I for her. Think nothing of it. Musing to myself really." With that he had stopped talking, and fallen asleep. Briar had lain awake for a few more hours, trying to rid her face of the smile that had found its way there. _  
Silently, she leaned in further to the bed, trying to get as close as she could to the comatose man laying on the pristine sheets. From where the sheets had been pulled to his waist, Briar could see the stitches and bandages that wound their way about his body. Tracing one small finger to one of the lines of stitches, Briar sighed softly. The gash across his waist, the one that had exposed his organs to the world was covered by a large patch of gauze. Under the fabric wound about his waist, a few stray stitches were visible.  
"That one was one of the worst..." Bluue sighed from the doorway. Silently, she walked into the room, pulling another chair near the bedside of her young ward. "It took several layers of stitching. Everything from the muscle to each individual layer of skin had to be stitched together. I don't even know how long that will last..." Bluue trailed off, looking again at Dais solemnly.  
Briar did not say anything, eyes still locked on the body of her sleeping lover. His good eye was closed, partially obscured by a roll of gauze set about his head. It was holding a large bandage against the other side of Dais's head. Underneath was the eye that had been slashed in his fight with Adam. Bluue caught her gaze, and touched the younger woman on the shoulder.  
"His eye was not salvageable...I am afraid he will not see out of that eye ever again."  
"That is if he ever wakes up..." Briar murmured, wrapping her small hand about his large clawed one. Silently they all waited, the only noise being the gentle breathing of new life, and the hum of machinery trying to keep an old life going.


	50. Full Circle

"Pull it."  
Her voice was raspy, and seemed strained. For almost half an hour, she had been sitting bolt upright in the chair nestled next to her sleeping lovers bed. Her hand was still wrapped in his, clutching his still appendage. Nothing had been said for the entire time they had been there by their fallen friends side.  
Bluue looked up, startled from her thoughts by Briar's first words in hours. "Pull it?" she asked, trying to understand if the girl meant what she thought she meant.  
Briar nodded, not taking her eyes from the sleeping face of Dais. "Pull the damn plug, or whatever it is that is keeping him alive..." for a moment she trailed off, praying to whom ever had looked out for her so far that she was doing the right thing. Still she received no answer, and taking that as a sign, Briar had resigned herself to Dais's fate.  
"I can not keep him on these damn things forever." Bluue opened her mouth to say something to make the girl understand. She was stopped by Briar as she stopped and snapped at the older woman. "You said he was brain dead, yes?"  
"Yes." For the first time, Bluue was at a loss of words for the younger woman.  
"Dais loved his mind. It was one of the greatest things about him. If he woke up, and ended up as a vegetable, it would kill him. Not being able to think, or move, it would be hell. Pull the damn plug. Spare him that, for his sake."  
Bluue nodded, knowing when a battle was lost. She had given the decision about Dais's future to Briar, and she was not going to back out of that decision now. Squeezing her shoulder, she got off of the bed, and headed toward the machines near the corner of the bed. Quickly, she leaned down, and reached for the switch set against the machines control panel.  
Her finger hesitated over the button for but a moment, then with a sound that might have been a muffled sob, she clicked the switch to its off position. The humming that filled the room shut off instantly, leaving the beep of the heart monitor the only sound in the room. Crossing her arms over herself, Bluue waited for the sound of the inevitable flat line. Briar closed her eyes tightly as the heart monitor screamed its warning. His heart had stopped, its beating stilled in his chest.  
Bluue turned, hauling herself to Briar's side. The younger woman was sitting on the bed, resting her hand on Dais's chest. Her upper body was leaning against the mattress, as she whispered something into Dais's hearing ear.  
"I love you Dais, and thank you." With that she planted a kiss on his cold lips, letting him go. She settled the sleeping form of their daughter next to him for a moment. Casting a look at the babe, Briar saw her eyes open. Both crimson orbs stared at her father, confused for a moment. Babbling started moments later, as Briar moved Rose as close to her father as she could get. One small pale chubby hand moved from the blanket, and reached out towards Dais, latching onto a single dread lock.  
The massive coil of hair over powered the infant's hand, and when Briar went to remove her daughter she did not move. Displaying a strength she could only have inherited from the man to whom she now so desperately clung, Rose refused to let go of the lock. Briar was not ready for this, her eyes already stinging with the promise of tears. "Let go, please let go." she begged the child. "Just let him go...he's not there anymore." Watching from the sidelines, Bluue wondered just who Briar was trying to convince.  
Stubbornly, Rose clung to the dread, choosing to scream to display her intense displeasure at being pulled from her father. Briar was shocked, having just seen herself in the babe. She pulled the baby's hand from the lock, finally prying it from her chubby fingers. With an indignant scream, Rose released her father's hair. At the moment his daughters hands left him, one of Dais's large hands moved slightly.  
The monitor that had been screaming at them for a few moments now began to beep. Both of their heads snapped up in unison, staring at the monitor in disbelief. "Bluue?" Briar asked, her voice shaking. The older woman did not answer, as their attention was soon drawn the sounds of rustling sheets.  
One long blackened claw moved in the sheets, clutching them and releasing them as his legs twitched. Bandages and stitches moved and shifted as his bare chest moved up and down shallowly. For a few moments, they stared at him blankly. Shock wearing off finally, Briar gasped. Both hands flew up in front of his face as his back arched. Almost as of he was being electrocuted, Dais thrashed about the bed for a few seconds before going deathly still. If not for the steady beep of the monitor, they would have sworn he had once more returned to the darkness.  
Overjoyed, Briar leaned over him as he stilled. Laying one hand on his chest, she felt the heart resting in there beating once more. A small smile graced her lips as she stared at him. From behind her, a small gasp from Bluue caused her to turn. "Lazarus."  
"Lazarus?" Briar looked at the older woman, confused.  
"The Lazarus function...we put it in his genetic code. I never thought that it would work...it was a long shot in the first place,but it works! It actually works!" the older woman babbled, her hands clasped to her chest in surprise.  
"Bluue!" Briar snapped, looking at her friend. "Now is not the time to be babbling at me! What the hell is The Lazarus function!"  
Looking at Bluue as if she had just then realized that she was there, she nodded. "The Lazarus function was built into his system from the beginning. It was thought that a war machine made to be adaptable to any climate, or terrain should be indestructible as well...so some of the geneticists came up with the Lazarus code set. It was a long shot of course, as nothing of flesh and blood is indestructible, but this code set had no intention of attempting the completely impossible. Instead of making it so the code allowed him to never die, the code set simply makes him harder to kill, permanently."  
Seeing the look of confusion in Briar's eyes, Bluue tried to explain to her. "Say, if in a combat situation, Dais were to take a bullet to the heart. This would kill anything with a heart, and we are all aware that Dais does indeed have one. Lazarus allows him to be dead, in all scientific ways, but not entirely. His heart will stop, his breathing will cease. All of it will make him seem dead to even the most skilled doctors. Yet, the code then jump starts a section of DNA that helps with such functions, and brings him back. If he is wounded, and the damage has been repaired, then his body will function as normal."  
"What?" Briar nearly screamed at her. "You mean, you knew this might happen?" she pointed to Dais, her voice tightening.  
"No!" Bluue shoved her hands out in front of her quickly. "No, I did not. The code set had so many problems, it was never actually thought to function! That and Dais's brain ceased to function. Lazarus only works if his brain is undamaged, and working. It's the basic core of the system, and Dais's brain was designed to function even if his heart and other systems failed!"  
At that Briar smiled. Looking at the man who lay on the bed, his chest moving in and out slowly, she spoke carefully. "He was programmed for so many damn things, but how many of them actually went the way you think?"  
Ignoring her snide comment, Bluue followed Briar's eyes to Dais. "Thank god, something finally worked the way it was supposed too..." she trailed off, trying not to think about what would have happened if the young man had in fact stayed dead. Briar turned back to the bed, setting her hand on his chest once more.  
"You're back..." she smiled, one finger tracing his face with a feather light touch. Trailing her fingertip along the side of his face, she got to just about the side of his jaw when he moved.  
One large black whipped up, and wrapped itself around her hand. Briar turned her head and looked at it, surprised by the sudden movement. The claw had wrapped itself about her hand, settling itself against her skin softly. A noise brought her attention back to his face. In that second Briar saw a familiar sight that had she been standing, would have brought her to her knees.  
From the non-bandaged side, one of his crimson eyes stared at her. He was awake.  
"Dais..." Briar trailed off, her eyes watering once more. Brushing the tears aside for a moment, she smiled at him. He made an odd sound, and moved the hand that rested on her hand to his throat.  
"You have a breathing tube in." Bluue piped up from her end of the bed.  
He looked at them, eyes clear. For a moment, Briar feared that perhaps some damage had been done to his mind as he seemed confused as to what Bluue was talking about. Yet a moment later, some of her fears were set aside when he nodded.  
"Can you pull it out?" She asked, eyes never leaving his.  
"If he wants."  
Briar looked at him, asking him if he minded. A second later, he nodded, his eyes never leaving Briar's. Bluue got off the end of the bed, and walked around to the side. After finagling with a few of the instruments, she turned to Dais and proceeded to pull the tube from his throat. Gagging slightly, Dais then pulled his first unassisted breath in hours.  
"How are you feeling?" Bluue asked, looking at his eyes and then starting to do a standard check up on him as he lay there. Dais tried to speak, making only a small and strangled choking noise as he did so. "Do not try to talk right now, the tube will leave your throat raw for a few hours. Nod once for yes, and shake your head for no."  
Dais stared at her, then turning his head slightly, he gave Briar an exasperated look. From that angle, Dais got his first look at the small bundle in Briar's arms. Amazement passed his face, and he threw Briar a wide eyed look.  
Smiling broadly, Briar pulled the bundle toward Dais. Puling the blanket from around the child's face, she let him see. "Dais, let me introduce you to Rose Wyn de Beaumont." Dais's eyes softened at the sight of the child who was smiling at him from his lover's arms. Glancing at Briar, he gestured to himself then to the child. "You want to hold her?" she asked, gushing at him excitedly.  
When he nodded, Briar gently moved the child from her hands into his. Having never held a child before, Dais fumbled with the simple action. A scared look passed his face as the sudden realization of just how frail this child was hit him. A soft hand wrapped around the black skin of his own, gently guiding him in how to hold the baby right. He did not look up, but followed how his hands were moved, committing the ritual to memory.  
After finally setting Dais right on how to hold their daughter, Briar sat back and looked at her little family. Dais was sitting up mostly in the bed, his back leaning against the headboard. Both arms were wrapped about his waist, creating a perfect cradle for the tiny child he held in his grasp. Her head rested in one of his large hands, pale face and bright blanket a stark contrast to the sheer black of his hands. Smiling at her father, Rose babbled gently. A smile crossed Dais's face. It spread from one side to the other, revealing all the sharp pointed teeth in his mouth.  
Rose got quiet, her eyes widening at the sight of every shark-like tooth. Dais's smiled faltered, fearing that his smile would scare his only child. His fears were put to rest moments later when Rose screamed in delight, one chubby hand reaching toward his mouth. Happily she babbled on, making noises to herself.  
Dais flashed Briar a grin, his eyes sparkling slightly with what seemed to be tears he would never shed. Briar smiled back, resting her forehead against the side of his head. Silently she watched as Dais took his free hand, and began to gently rub the side of Rose's face, using the same amount of care he gave her and his books. After a moment, Rose reached up and grabbed one of his black claws. Both Dais and Briar drew a deep breath, thinking she would hurt herself on the claw. Yet after gurgling her nonsense sounds to herself as she examined the odd appendage, Rose proceeded to stick it in her mouth and try to chew on it.  
Dais spoke, his voice raspy. "She is so small..." his voice cut out, then came back. Sounding rough and sore, he smirked. "Many greetings my child, I am your father." Rose let go of his finger and babbled at him happily, looking at him with large red eyes she could only have inherited from him. "I do not know what it is about you that closes as it opens. Only something in me understands. The silence of your eyes is deeper than all roses. Nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands."  
Briar smiled to herself, not recognizing the source of the quote, but knowing it was one of Dais's favorite ones of all time. "Dais!" she laughed quietly, one hand playing with the dreadlocks across his back. "You just died, and were resurrected! Can you stop thinking for at least a second!" she laughed, resting her head back against his.  
Keeping his experiences while being dead a secret, he looked at Briar. Leaning down, she kissed him, gently at first. It became deeper as Dais wrapped his free arm about her shoulders. At the touch of her skin on his, Dais felt the passion that this woman fed into his soul ignite once more. He wrapped his arm pouring everything into the kiss. Mouth opening under his, Briar eagerly took in the touch she never thought she would feel again. Together they melded once more into each other, both relieved that they would spend years together.  
A cough brought their attention to the older woman standing beside the bed. "Everything seems in order then." she said, one eyebrow arched up in amusement. They parted, faces growing red as they looked at her. Below them Rose babbled happily at the exchange of love she had witnessed from her parents. "That reminds me..." Bluue trailed off, setting herself on the edge of the bed, a smile on her face. With barely concealed joy, she watched the boy she considered a son with his family. Just moments before, he had seemed lost to them forever, but now it seemed as if they would be alright. "I was thinking of something. Not to ruin the happiness in the room, but where are you going to go now?"  
For a moment they both looked confused, then Briar put one hand to her mouth in surprise. "That's right! The tunnel was destroyed!" Dais looked at both of them, and decided to stay quiet. His voice was hurting more than ever, and after his words to Rose he wanted nothing more than to keep quiet.  
Bluue looked down at her hands, seemingly bored. Inside though, she was bursting from what she was about to ask. "I believe I have an answer that will suit everyone here."  
Both of her young charges looked at her, their child gurgling in the background. For a moment, neither one spoke. Finally, Briar piped up, her eyes wide. "What?" A grin spread over Bluue's face, and she began to lay out the plan she had been forming since Briar had found her way into her apartment once Dais had kicked her out. In the room filled with soft beeps, and the gurgling of a happy child, the small unlikely family planned out their future.


	51. Epilogue

_  
In stories of old, the Beast was a spoiled prince. He was not born that way, but perhaps what if he had? What if he had never known the vanity that cursed him so? What if the Rose was not a flower, but a child whom saved the life of the Beast, as well as his Beauty's, and brought them many wonders? What if, what if? There are many tales that involve such people, and things. Each time has its Beast, its Beauty, and its Rose.  
At least thats the way I know it to be.  
Tales as old as ti... _  
"Daaaaaadddddy!" a voice called, startling Dais from his work. Setting down the pen, he looked out the window of his study to the yard. Just before the garden full of beautiful roses, stood the most beautiful one of all. Her white hair pulled in pigtails, white face smeared with dirt, Rose held something up for him to see.  
"What is it darling?" he asked, squinting through the glasses that set on his face. One eye was gone, covered in a permanent eye patch, while the other had grown more handsome. The dark circles that lay under his face had gotten lighter, and a full diet had filled out the rest of his handsome face.  
"Come seeeeee!" she yelled, smiling. Her little body jumped up and down, full of excitement as any other three year old would be. Smiling to himself, he got up from his chair, reaching for the cane that set beside him. Walking with a slight limp, he moved through the small cabin he had been living in for years. Passing from his study into the kitchen, he stood in the doorway of the deck.  
Sitting in the wooden swing on the large and spacious back porch, Briar was watching their daughter as she read. One of Dais's novels sat on her lap, resting on the bulge of new life she had just started showing. Her blond hair, no longer cut into the wild style she had worn years ago, but still short and spiky was shading her face. On one hand rested a wedding ring, a perfect match to the one set about his own large black claw. Hearing the click on his feet on the wood, she looked up, smiling at her husband.  
"Baby! Come here and sit with me." she patted the wood of the bench. He obeyed, limping across the porch to sit at her side. Briar stared at her husband for a moment, noting that his leg was acting up once more. Since his near death the day Rose was born, Dais had had to use the cane to move about. Adam's attacks had severely damaged the unique muscles in his legs, but Dais did not complain. Instead he seemed to be better once it happened. Smiles came easier, and he now joked more and more.  
His injuries did not effect his life that much though. Dais had proven himself to be one hell of a good father, and his skill as a lover had not dropped on bit. Smiling, she rested on hand on his thigh. One of his hands came and rested on her stomach, patting the swell of it.  
"This one will be a boy." Briar smiled at him, winking.  
Dais swallowed slightly. "How do you know that?"  
"I know because I know." she repeated the exact thing he had said to her. When he gave her an odd look, she waved at him passively. "Now is not the time to be doubting me Dais."  
He nodded, looking at Rose. She was running about the large yard, being watched carefully by her adopted Grandmother, Bluue. The older woman sat on a bench further out in the yard, a green sundress wrapped about her. She was laughing, almost seeming years younger that she was. Rushing to them, Rose held up one grimy hand, all smiles. Her red eyes glowed with happiness as she showed her parents the frog that rested in her hands.  
"Looookit! Lookit! I gots a fwog, and its jumpin eveywhere!" she giggled as it jumped from her hand once more. Using reflexes she inherited from her father, she snatched it from the air.  
"Thats amazing baby." Briar cooed, patting her daughter on the head. Dais nodded, looking at his child with a large smile.  
"Now, let it go little flower." he used the nickname he had been calling her since her birth. "It has a family to go home to."  
Rose nodded, running off once more into the yard. Briar snuggled closer to her husband, one hand playing with the knot of dreadlocks at the back of his head. Of all the things he had changed over the years, from his clothes to his style, he refused to get rid of those dreads. Not that Briar was complaining. No matter what changes he went through, she would see him as the bare chested young man in the tattered cloak and torn pants.  
"Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?" she asked, looking at the sky above their little home. Bluue had offered them a home in the cabin she bought, and they had taken on the offer. Briar had become a librarian in the small town below them. She wrote many things, trying to get back into her old habits. Just the month before she had published her first book.  
Dais had become quiet successful in the world he once thought himself no part of. Now his novels sold in many stores, his name known by millions. Needless to say, they had both earned their keep. After retiring, Bluue had started selling some of Dais's potions and poultices to herbal companies. They sold out fast, everyone noting the power and skill that had gone into these things. Bluue took only some of the money, giving the rest to her family. Together they lived comfortably, and were set for the future.  
"I have seen one thing more beautiful." he looked at Briar through his glasses.  
She smacked him playfully. "What a load of cheese!" she laughed. "You are so corny love!"  
He chuckled lightly. " Yet you love me still. Corniness can be forgiven, correct?"  
She nodded. "I love you." she murmured to him, as she did every time she could. He responded, brushing a stray hair over her ear.  
"I love you too darling." He bent down to her, and was about to kiss her, when Rose's voice pulled them apart once more.  
"I gots anuuder one!" she yelled, calling them over. Sitting up, Briar stood slowly. Stretching her back, she put out a hand to her lover.  
"Tale as old as time, correct?" she rolled her eyes, used to their daughter interrupting them at anytime.  
He nodded, grabbing her hand. Tightly he held onto it, not willing to let go for anything. "Song as old as rhyme." With her leading him out into the yard, Dais smiled to himself.  
 _Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme. The story changes each time it is told, yet one thing remains the same. A beauty falls for a Beast, and a Rose is received.  
At least, that's the way it should be.  
~Dais De Beaumont. _


	52. Authors Note

This is an old work I wrote in 2009, and have since been editing here and there. It originally appeared on FF.net and Deviantart. More changes will probably be made to it on here. 

Thanks for reading if you stuck with me till the end! :)


End file.
